newsletterWelcome to the twenty seventh edition of the ACCIONA WaubraWind Farm newsletter. This newsletter provides information updatesabout the Waubra Wind Farm project approximately 35km NorthWest of Ballarat.

Waubra Wind Farm Education Scholarship

Waubra Wind Farm Edition 27, February 2017

This year’s Waubra Wind Farm Education Scholarship holder, Mardi Uwland, started at the Longreach Pastoral College in early February.

On day one, Mardi started her “Northern Beef” course with 12 other students. The course is centred around cattle breeding, health and maintenance. Mardi has transformed her life from a dream to actually gaining the skills needed to farm in the outback. Within her course she has focused on cattle health, dietary requirements and breeding, as well as horse shoeing, feeding, saddle care and riding. Station skills like windmill/bore maintenance, motorbike riding and repairs, welding and automotive are also included in the course.

Longreach has showed Mardi the hardship of drought, heat, rains and even floods. The

IN THIS ISSUE

Waubra Education Scholarship 1Sponsorship 2Community Reports 3Site Report 4and more...

Mardi (far right) with college friends at the ANZAC Parade Mardi with one of her show cows

college students are actively involved in the township of Longreach attending community events like ANZAC parades, shows, camp drafting, horse race meeting and sporting events.

Mardi was also nominated head of the cattle show team for a number of local agricultural shows. She spent weeks feeding (a cattle mix and hay rations), and spending time before and after classes to prepare a team of 20 cows. Quite a challenging task as the cattle had been through 4 years of drought!

Part of the course, also includes time on a working station to learn how a station is run and the basic work involved. Mardi completed her 8 weeks of work placement on one of Australia’s remotest cattle stations - Flora Valley in the Western Australia (800kms south of Katherine). She experienced station

life to the fullest, living and working alongside 7 other young station hands. Many hours were spent mustering cattle, branding calves, yard work, fencing and the day-to-day work on a large-scale cattle station. One round of mustering even went for three weeks!

“Over the year my skills improved and I developed basic knowledge to be able to work on a station. I made lifelong friends at Flora Valley and I can’t wait to head back after the wet season next year! 2016 was full of learning and experiencing new places and tasks. I’m so glad I decided to attend Longreach Pastoral College, it was a great year and I wouldn’t change it over anything!”

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Community Sponsorship in 2016

In 2016, we received a wide range of applications for great local causes from Waubra as well as Learmonth, Miners Rest, Clunes, Ballarat and Beaufort. Last year’s successful applicants were:

Congratulations once again to the successful applicants and thank you to all of the organisations for sharing their fantastic projects with us. ACCIONA has now provided more than $110,000 to local community and sporting groups within the Pyrenees Shire and the City of Ballarat since the program commenced.

Would your community group benefit from a sponsorship grant?

ACCIONA is now taking applications for 2017.

Sponsorship application forms can be accessed through our website.

Applications close 10 March 2017.

For more information, please call our toll free community hotline on 1800 283 550 or send an enquiry to AEO.Sponsorship@acciona.com

Waubra Wind Farm NewsletterEdition 27, February 2017

Daffodil and Floral Extravaganza” organised by the Waubra & District Horticultural Society Inc.

Talbot Primary School competing at the RACV Energy Breakthrough Event 2016

Organisation Name Project Support

Talbot Primary School T-shirts for participants of Energy Breakthrough event. Energy Breakthrough is a team event. 8 students ride for 12 hours competing against schools from other states. Riders are supported by a 20 student pit crew, staff and parent volunteers. The goal of the event is to educate the students about alternative energy sources, health, team work and develop a desire to live in a sustainable way.

$1,000

Miners Rest Primary School The kitchen garden program is in its third year. This year it will run for two days per week (last year it was one). Volunteers construct a vegetable and herb patch and a small fruit orchard. Children, teachers and volunteers sow seeds and seedlings, nature, grow, harvest and prepare food in the school kitchen.

$1,300

Learmonth Bowling Club Inc. Replace plymouth around green after the recent upgrade of grass green. $2,065

Learmonth & District Historical Society Inc. Research & Reprographics Centre. To bring storage and reproduction capabilities up to current standards.

$2,750

Clunes & District Agricultural Society Showgrounds Improvements. To enclose and make lockable the skillion to the cattle pavilion. This will provide a safe area to store valuable possessions that are used on show day. Also, provide a protective area for prize cattle on show day, free up the pavilion to be available for hire.

$5,000

Waubra Football and Netball Club Ongoing sponsorship of the club including the purchase of new uniforms and equipment. $5,000

Waubra & District Horticultural Society Inc. 'Daffodil & Floral Extravaganza' on 17-18 September. First of its kind for the Horticulture society, very well advertised across Australia through the Horticulture sector. Purchasing of new display equipment.

$1,500

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Over the last three years, the Miner’s Rest Primary School Kitchen Garden Program has enabled children, teachers and volunteers to sow seeds and seedlings, as well as nurture, grow, harvest and prepare food in the school kitchen. In this time, ACCIONA’s sponsorship has provided the kitchen garden programme with an oven, quality knives, a dishwasher, gardening gloves, tools and a tumbling composter. As well as assist with awards for outstanding grade 6 students – acknowledging their dedication, teamwork and initiative.

Claire Cosgriff, the Kitchen Garden Coordinator at Miner’s Rest Primary School, noted, “ACCIONA’s ongoing support of our kitchen garden programme is so very valued and appreciated. [Sponsorship] has allowed the expansion of our school wide composting programme, which in turn has improved the quality of the soil that we grow our plants in. With a new oven and knives, we have been able to increase the types of recipes that we use to prepare our home grown organic produce. Our kitchen garden programme has been a welcome addition to our curriculum. The classes involve sustainability, literacy, numeracy, science, geography and history in a real life setting. The children learn while they are upright and on the move. This style of learning appeals to children of all ability levels and to experience the children so engaged in their learning is a real privilege. The programme runs with the assistance of volunteers who share the harvesting, preparing and sharing of the food with the children. Our rapidly growing school still has a small school feel, largely due to the large band of community volunteers that are involved in the kitchen garden programme. All children can experience significant success with the kitchen garden programme and the impact on this programme on the students’ wellbeing and self-esteem cannot be underestimated.”

In the garden with Miner’s Rest Primary School…

Cameron Stowe (Site Manager) and Claire Cosgriff (Kitchen Garden Coordinator) with students from the Miner’s Rest Primary School kitchen garden program

Waubra Wind Farm Community Fund Report

(David Clark – Executive Officer)

2016 has been another busy year of activities for the Wind Farm Community Fund. The Fund which is operated by the 17 community groups in the area along with Acciona representatives successfully completed 19 separate projects in 2016.

Funds for benevolent purposes, helping families and charitable events were a key feature this year, with eight separate families and events supported, utilising some 20% of the funds available.

General projects numbered nine with highlights being a new groomer for the bowls green, display cabinet at the Waubra Hub and outdoor lighting at the Evansford Community Centre.

In terms of environmental projects the free trees program, now in its seventh year, provided just over 12,000 trees to 92 families in the

district. Over 70,000 trees have now been provided across the area for people to plant on their properties.

The Fund also reached out and provided funds for groups within the Lexton, Learmonth and Beaufort areas that had worthy projects.

As we move into 2017 the Community Fund is raising its sights in terms of more broad community activity, particularly around assisting low income earners with renewable energy and moving the area as a whole toward a more energy efficient future. We plan to explore models of how to assist people install renewable energy options on their homes, which they can then repay from the savings these generate. Expect to hear more from us in 2017.

Our thanks to the Acciona staff Cameron Stowe, Leigh Russell and Kirsten Lee for their great support again in 2016.

CONTACT US

We welcome your contact for information or feedback about any of our activities. Please call the free-call number 1800 283 550 or email Waubra@acciona.com. Visit our website for more information about our other projects www.acciona.com.au

ACCIONA Head OfficeLevel 12, 2 Southbank Boulevard

Southbank, Victoria 3006(03) 9027 1000

www.acciona.com.au

Waubra Wind Farm NewsletterEdition 27, February 2017

4Printed on 100% recycled paper that is FSC recycled certified and certified carbon neutral

Tours to Waubra

The Waubra Wind Farm site team receive many requests for tours and 2016 was no exception! Last year the team conducted over 25 tours with local clubs, residents and students. This included:

• Local Probus Clubs

• Rotary Club of Maryborough - Car Rally

• Sustainability Victoria

• Mortlake residents

• Harvester College - Year 11-12 pre-apprenticeship students

• ACU Engineering students

• Deakin Engineering students

• RMIT Engineering students

The team also assisted with 14 Earth Ed tours for high school students from Ballarat to Mount Clear. Earth Ed is an engaging specialist science and mathematics facility providing real world Earth Science educational experiences for Victorian students.

If you know anyone who would like to undertake a tour, please contact us for more information.

We welcome your contact for informationor feedback about any of our activities.Please call the free-call number 1800 283 550or email Waubra@acciona.com.au.Visit our website to find out more about otherACCIONA projects www.acciona.com.au.

Waubra Site Report

(Cameron Stowe - Site Manager)

What a year 2016 has been!!! Firstly, I would like to thank Melanie Robertson for the huge amount of time and effort she put into the Waubra Wind Farm and the greater Waubra community over that past 5 years as Site Manager, well done Mel!

We have a new casual employee Kayla Driscoll; she has been with Acciona Energy for about 5 months, working 1-2 days per week in an admin role.

Our 2016 generation target was achieved due to the good winds in the latter half of the year, and it is a promising start to 2017. The 2016 sponsorship program was a great success; it delivered approximately $20,000 to the broader community’s. Keep a look out for the 2017 sponsorships, which will be advertised in the first quarter of 2017.

Acciona Energy will commence construction of the Mt Gellibrand Wind Farm 2nd quarter of 2017; it will consist of 22 AW-3000 turbines for an installed capacity of 66mw.

Our Mortlake project has applied for a tower height increase to 120 metres; this will also reduce the number of turbines from 51 back to 42 turbines for the project.

The ‘Community Benefit Fund’ received approximately $80,000 in 2016 for projects around the Waubra area, these project have had a positive impact upon the community. Please feel free to contact David Clark for more information regarding the community benefit fund.

In early 2016 there was an incident where a fencing contractor damaged an underground high voltage cable; it was only luck that no one was injured in the accident. Please ensure you or your contractor complete a ‘dial before you dig’ (dial 1100) request before undertaking ground excavations.