Queensland’s renewable energy pipeline has received a boost with the Queensland Government’s approval of the Chalumbin Wind Farm in North Queensland.

Following Epuron's submission of the Development Application in December 2021, the project was granted development consent by the Queensland Government's State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) on 30 June 2022.

In making its decision SARA also approved the project’s Preliminary Rehabilitation Plan, a first of its kind for a wind farm in Queensland.

Located approximately 15 km south of Ravenshoe, the site is in the Tablelands Regional Council local government area and within the proposed Northern Queensland Renewable Energy Zone.

The $1.2 billion project involves up to 94 wind turbines and associated infrastructure, and is expected to create up to 350 jobs during construction and 15-30 ongoing jobs during operation.

The application is yet to be approved under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and will be assessed by the Federal Government through a Public Environment Report (PER). A draft PER has been submitted and once accepted will be placed on public exhibition. During the exhibition period Epuron will host a round of community information sessions at the project's information hub in Ravenshoe.

Once operational the wind farm would generate about 600 megawatts of clean electricity, enough to power about 350,000 homes and make a significant contribution to the state government’s target of 50 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030.