The Central Highlands Wind Precinct moved closer to reality this week after the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action confirmed it had received three revised environmental impact assessments for wind projects within 80 kilometres of Ballarat's CBD, with a combined proposed capacity of 1.1 gigawatts. That's enough, on paper, to power roughly 600,000 homes. The submissions landed on Wednesday, triggering a 60-day public comment window that closes on 1 September.
The timing matters because Victoria's Renewable Energy Action Plan requires the state to hit 65 per cent renewable electricity by 2030. The Central Highlands corridor — stretching from the Mount Mercer Wind Farm near Meredith through to the ridgelines above Clunes and Creswick — is carrying a disproportionate share of that load. Ballarat, sitting at the administrative and logistics hub of the region, is increasingly the place where the deals get done, the workers get trained and the community fights break out.
Training and jobs: Ballarat's TAFE pipeline takes shape
Federation University's Ballarat campus on Lydiard Street North announced on Tuesday a 12-month partnership with Danish turbine manufacturer Vestas to expand its Certificate III in Wind Turbine Technology. The program, which currently graduates around 40 students a year, will scale to 120 enrolments from February 2027, funded partly through a $2.1 million commitment under the state government's Jobs and Skills Fund. Vestas has been quietly supplying turbines to the Mount Mercer site since its 2013 commissioning and has flagged the Central Highlands expansion as a priority service territory.
The Ballarat Industry Group, which operates out of offices on Mair Street, has been lobbying since March for a dedicated wind supply chain cluster — a formal network of local fabricators, electricians and civil contractors that could bid collectively on project packages rather than losing individual tenders to Melbourne or interstate firms. The group said this week it has 34 member businesses expressing interest, ranging from concrete suppliers in Sebastopol to electrical contractors based in the Alfredton industrial estate. No formal structure has been signed yet, but the organisation expects to hold a founding meeting before the end of August.
Community tension hasn't gone away
Not everyone is celebrating. Residents around the Creswick district have been attending information sessions run by the Central Highlands Community Wind Alliance, which opposes two of the three projects under environmental review. Attendance at the alliance's July 1 meeting at the Creswick Town Hall reached 140 people, the highest since the group formed in late 2024. Concerns focus on visual amenity, noise setback distances — currently set at 1.5 kilometres under Victorian planning rules — and the adequacy of landholder compensation agreements, which some participants described as opaque.
The City of Ballarat council has not taken a formal position on any of the three projects currently in assessment. A council spokesperson confirmed this week that a briefing paper is being prepared for councillors ahead of the August ordinary meeting, at which point elected members may choose to make a submission during the public comment period. The council did endorse the state's Renewable Energy Zone framework in principle in October 2023, but that resolution stopped well short of backing individual developments.
Property market pressures add a layer of complexity. With house prices across regional Victoria showing signs of softening in mid-2026, some landholders who signed long-term wind lease agreements three or four years ago at fixed rates are now questioning whether those deals still reflect the value of their land. Legal firms in Ballarat CBD have reported a modest uptick in inquiries about lease renegotiation, though no cases have proceeded to formal dispute.
Anyone wanting to make a submission on the three environmental assessments can do so through the DEECA planning portal before 1 September. Federation University's wind technology enrolments for the expanded 2027 intake open on 15 August, and the Ballarat Industry Group is accepting expressions of interest from businesses via its Mair Street office through to 31 July.
