AGL Energy’s Macarthur Wind Farm in Australia Reaches Full Power Potential

AGL Energy Ltd. (AGK), operator of the A$1 billion ($1 billion) Macarthur wind farm in Australia’s Victoria state, said the project reached full capacity of 420 megawatts for the first time at the end of March.

Macarthur, the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere, has generated the equivalent of one year’selectricity supply to more than 40,000 households and started operating fully at the end of January, Sydney-based AGL said today in an e-mail response to questions.

With the Macarthur project, AGL and partner Meridian Energy Ltd. are contributing to the Australian government’s program to generate 20 percent of the country’s power from renewable energy by the end of the decade. Vestas Wind Systems A/S (VWS) of Denmark is providing turbines to the wind farm.

AGL, Australia’s biggest owner of renewable energy projects, and First Solar Inc. (FSLR) last year won A$129.7 million in government funds to build a 159-megawatt solar project across two sites in New South Wales state. AGL also plans the Silverton wind farm in New South Wales that has a potential capacity of as much as 1,000 megawatts, its website shows