Construction has begun on a giant wind farm in Queensland. 

The $2 billion MacIntyre Wind Precinct should produce up to 1,026 megawatts of energy from 180 wind turbines in a new facility located about 60 kilometres west of Warwick in southern Queensland. 

The company behind the project, Acciona Energia, says it will create up to 650 jobs, about half of which they hope to source from the local community.

A former National Farmers Federation (NFF) president is among the landholders who will have turbines on their property, and has been working with Acciona to ensure local concerns are addressed. 

Construction should continue for about two and a half years, with the last turbine set to be installed in October 2024.

The precinct is expected to power 700,000 homes.

Queensland Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen, Mick de Brenni, said the state government is ready for the new source of power. 

“We've seen a lot of debate in the last couple of weeks about energy reliability and energy prices,” he said.

“Queensland is not independent of those energy prices, but we can be with projects like this.

“Queensland desperately needs more wind energy, especially around the peak evening times between five and seven.

“That's where we see strong wind in places like southern Queensland that will complement what we have in terms of our solar profile.”