Apple pulls out of Upper Burdekin wind farm project

Apple which in August last year said it had inked a deal to buy clean energy from Wind Labs Upper Burdekin wind farm near Ingham, Queensland, on Gugu Badhun country.

Upper Burdekin was set to begin operations in 2026 with construction to start this year.

The amount of power Apple was intending to buy was the energy equivalent of powering 80,000 homes.

An Apple spokesperson confirmed the IT giant had pulled out of the wind farm deal.

"Apple is no longer participating in the Upper Burdekin project."

"Apple will continue to explore renewable energy projects in Australia,” the spokesperson said.

No reason was given as to why Apple had changed its mind although the Australian Financial Review suggested environmental reasons were behind the decision.

Windlab has been contacted for comment on the matter.

The company is majority owned by billionaire mining magnate Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest, who founded the Fortesque Metals Group.

All in all, Upper Burdekin Wind Farm was set to generate up to 500 megawatt from 80 turbines, down from 136 originally.

Once operational, the wind farm was set to have enough generation capacity to provide renewable energy for up to 300,000 homes, sufficient to power every household in Townsville three times over, Windlab said.

However, the project ran into resistance this year, The Guardian reported, after Windlab published an environmental report that said 769 hectares needed to be cleared, which ran the risk of endangering several already threatened species. 

Update April 5: A Windlab spokesperson told CRN Australia that the deal with Apple is off.

“Windlab and Apple have agreed to terminate a power purchase agreement (PPA) for the Upper Burdekin Wind Farm," the spokesperson said.

“The development phase of the project has taken significantly longer than originally anticipated, and the project no longer meets the PPA’s milestone requirements,” the spokesperson said.

Windlab also denied the project was threatening already endangered species.

“Any suggestion that we will not apply the highest of standards to protect koalas and other species is incorrect," the spokesperson said.

“Following more than two years’ in-depth environmental studies and consultation, we have delivered a project design that preserves more than 98 percent of native vegetation on the cattle property where the project is located."

“We will deliver robust management plans to ensure the welfare of native species."

“This includes the project being a Tier 1 monitoring site for the CSIRO’s National Koala Monitoring Program, appointment of expert ecologists to supervise project activity, implementing appropriate exclusion zones, relocating wildlife if required, creating buffer zones around identified habitat and reducing weeds and predatory pests,” the spokesperson concluded.