Better internet and roads among promised benefits of new wind farm

At a groundbreaking ceremony for the Uungala Wind Farm, federal energy minister Chris Bowen said renewables projects were an opportunity to improve infrastructure around towns like Wellington.

"I understand the concerns [from some in the community] but also I see it as an opportunity ... and it is on us and on the states and on the developers to make sure that's the case," he said.

"I'm not here to pretend that you can make everyone happy all the time and overnight people will say, 'oh, this is now great, I love this project'. That in my political experience doesn't happen about anything ever.

"But you can listen to genuine concerns and take them on board and ensure that communities really do benefit. Nothing is ever uncontroversial when it comes to energy but we need to make sure that everybody sees a benefit."

Squadron Energy says the 69-turbine Uungala Wind Farm, 14 kilometres east of Wellington, will create more than 260 jobs and inject more than $40 million into the region's economy.

People living around the wind farm will also benefit from a boost to internet connectivity.

"If I come off my horse over in those hills and break a leg... I would still have to crawl today 3.5 miles because we don't have internet access yet," Squadron Energy parent company Tattarang chair Andrew Forrest said.

"These wind farms are here to give the local people internet access."

Jason Willoughby, CEO of Squadron Energy, said another of the immediate benefits the community around Wellington will see is the improvement of local roads.

"One of the real benefits of a wind project like this is that the ancillary infrastructure gets upgraded," he said.

"We'll be doing a really significant upgrade to the Goolma Road intersection to remove some of the current safety issues. We'll also be upgrading that 12-mile road access.

"Not just access to the wind farm, but for local communities to have safer and better roads."

Also at the groundbreaking, member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders acknowledged the implementation of the Central-West Orana REZ and construction of projects like the Uungala Wind Farm is still causing concern for some residents.

"Proper consultation and engagement is vital... [it] should include going from property to property and looking at the impact of wind, solar, and transmission lines, and that work needs to start as soon as possible," he said.

"There is also a need to come up with proper benefits for anyone living near a large-scale renewable project, an example of this is Squadron who is delivering improved internet connectivity to all properties within the Uungula project scope.

"Now we need these discussions to continue so that we can find similar benefits for other areas, which is why I have previously called for an investigation into a shared benefit scheme which could include things like free solar and battery installations, as well as power subsidies," he said.