Independent power producer Ratch Australia told a Senate committee in Cairns today that it expects to spend up to $90 million in the Tablelands region developing the Mount Emerald Wind Farm near Mareeba.

At a public hearing hosted by the Select Committee on Wind Turbines on the regulatory governance, health and economic impacts of wind turbines, Ratch also confirmed that more than 150 jobs would be created constructing the 180 MW project.

“Our assessment shows that $100 to 150 million will be spent domestically with up to $90 million spent in the Tablelands region alone,” Ratch General Manager of Business Development, Anil Nangia, told the senators.

“Expenditure during operations is expected to be between $13 million to $17 million dollars per year.

“Peak employment during the construction phase can be expected to rise to around 150-200 jobs while 15 permanent jobs will be created to operate the wind farm,” he said.

Ratch and its joint venture partner local property developers Port Bajool were recently given the green light by the Queensland Government to develop the Mount Emerald Wind Farm.

Ratch owns a number of wind farms around Australia including the Windy Hill wind farm near Ravenshoe, which has been operating for over 10 years.

Mr Nangia told the committee that Ratch and Port Bajool had a long term involvement in the Far North Queensland region and would continue to work together to deliver benefits for local communities.

“We will address the problem noted in the recent Infrastructure Australia Northern Australia Audit Report, that electricity availability and higher cost in Northern Australia remain a major issue to both residents and business,” he said.

“Our Community Benefit Fund will also invest $200,000 per year to fund projects or initiatives that will benefit the local community once the wind farm commences operation. The setup of a community benefit fund was included in our statement of commitment to the Queensland Government as part of our Development Approval”