There are signs the Renewable Energy zone in our region is ramping up.

Billionaire Andrew Twiggy Forrest last week revealed large wind turbines have landed at Newcastle Port destined first for his Uungula wind farm (14 kilometres east of Wellington) and soon for the Spicers Creek Wind facility in the southern end of Warrumbungle Shire.

Mr Forrest says that "the turbine tower sections would be stored at the port before being transported to site later this year, with installations scheduled to start early next year.’’

A voluntary agreement is expected to be signed with Warrumbungle Shire Council on Spicers Creek within days.

Communities in several parts of the Central West Renewable Energy Zone are rallying against the rapid accumulation of wind and solar projects in local shires but infrastructure is on its way.

Warrumbungle Shire has 10 renewable projects in its area.

The Valley of Winds site slated for Coolah and beyond is under court appeal. 

Spicers Creek has been designated as a 'state significant development' by the NSW Government.

Squadron says the 126 tower sections spent eight days at sea before arriving at Newcastle, with the next shipment expected from next month.

The parts range in length from 10 to 29 metres long.

The turbine tower components will be delivered to the Uungala site via more than 700 oversize overmass deliveries under police escort, which will take place over a 12-month period.

“We’re powering through work on site and can’t wait to start erecting the first turbine early next year, getting one step closer to generating clean energy through our 414MW project,” said Squadron Energy executive general manager development and delivery Tony Clark.

Port of Newcastle says having specialist storage available onsite minimises double handling and reduces unnecessary transport movements, benefiting both customer and regional communities.

 “As the preferred gateway for 77 per cent of all renewable energy projects in NSW, we’re proud to play a central role in advancing the state’s clean energy transformation,” a spokesperson said in a separate LinkedIn post.

“The [Uungala] shipment is the first of up to 30,000 wind farm components expected to pass through the port over the next decade, highlighting our unrivalled capabilities for handling large-scale renewable energy projects.”

This includes up to 117 turbines for Spicers Creek in the Warrumbungle Shire.

“The Port of Newcastle’s state-of-the-art storage facilities means our components will be well-looked after until we’re ready for them to make the journey from Newcastle to the site,” said Squadron Energy executive general manager development and delivery Tony Clark in a statement.