Whyalla West Tender Picks Four Bids for Nearly 13 GW of Wind and Solar

• South Australia picked Windlab, Altra Energy SA, Heron Energy and Neoen to progress almost 13 GW of wind and solar west of Whyalla.
• The bids equal about 1.7 times the wind and solar capacity now registered in the state, which targets 100% net renewables by 2027.
• Winners can apply for feasibility licences that allow up to five years of studies; construction needs a separate licence.

South Australia picked four developers to progress almost 13 gigawatts of wind and solar on pastoral land west of Whyalla, the state's Department for Energy and Mining said on Oct. 18.

Windlab, Altra Energy SA, Heron Energy and Neoen won the tender for the Whyalla West release area, which closed on June 28. The award is neither a power contract nor a building permit. Each winner gets the exclusive right to apply for a Renewable Feasibility Licence. It allows up to five years of technical, commercial and environmental studies. Construction would need a separate infrastructure licence, the department said.

Windlab's bid is the largest, at up to 6 GW of wind and solar on Barngarla Country. Adelaide-based Altra Energy SA proposed about 4.7 GW of wind and solar, and Heron Energy about 1.6 GW of wind, according to details released with the selection. Neoen's solar-only project is the smallest, at less than 400 MW.

The bids are large for a grid of this size. Renewables supplied more than 75% of South Australia's net generation in 2025, department data show. Wind and solar make up more than 7,564 MW of the state's 10,581 MW of registered capacity. The state targets 100% net renewable electricity by 2027.

The tender in numbers

• 12.3 GW of the total sits in the three wind-led bids from Windlab, Altra and Heron (list.solar calculation).
• 47% of the capacity comes from Windlab's 6-GW proposal alone (list.solar calculation).
• 600–1,000 MW of wind generation and battery storage planned for Windlab's first stage, the company said on Oct. 19.
• 3,300+ square kilometers covered by the four proposals, about half of the 6,500-square-kilometer release area (list.solar calculation).
• 1.7 times the wind and solar capacity now registered in South Australia, which tops 7,564 MW (list.solar calculation).
• 16% of the state's estimated 80 GW of developable wind and solar resources (list.solar calculation).

The developers are already courting buyers. Altra is "already working with major energy users on how this energy will be used," director Andrew Newman said in the department's statement.

Windlab expects to start on-site development work in the coming months, once its licence is granted. Later stages would follow industrial demand and enabling infrastructure, it said. A second zone tendered at the same time, the 5,200-square-kilometer Gawler Ranges East area, was not part of the Oct. 18 announcement.