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The ACT has taken another step towards its goal of being powered by 100 per cent renewable energy in 2020, with another wind farm starting to feed into the national grid on Saturday. The Crookwell 2 wind farm's 28 turbines will generate more than 300,000 megawatt hours of renewable electricity each year, enough to power about 42,000 Canberra homes. Each turbine has a rotor diameter of 130 metres, and reaches a height of 160 metres from the ground to the end of the blades when vertical. Climate Change and Sustainability Minister Shane Rattenbury said the wind farm would contribute about 10 per cent of the energy needed for the territory to meet its renewable energy target. The wind farm will be paid $86.60 per megawatt hour for the energy it feeds into the grid, a price which is fixed for the next 20 years. Crookwell 2 is the only wind farm generating power for the ACT that is located within the Canberra region. The others are in northern NSW, South Australia and Victoria. "Once again, the ACT is leading the way by reaching key milestones as we progress towards our ambitious clean energy future," Mr Rattenbury said. "As we have seen with other renewables projects, the Crookwell 2 wind farm is also delivering significant flow-on benefits to Canberra and the region." Mr Rattenbury said the Hornsdale 2 wind farm, in South Australia, would begin generating power later this year. The third stage of the Hornsdale project will bring the ACT to its target of 100 per cent renewable energy. Global Power Generation Australia built the Crookwell 2 wind farm, employing 77 local workers during construction. The company has also moved its head office from Sydney to Marcus Clarke Street in Canberra, where it has 11 staff working on projects in areas including zero-emission hydrogen technology. Global Power Generation Australia projects director David Santo Tomas said the company was looking forward to operating the Crookwell 2 wind farm for at least the next 20 years. He said the company had a pipeline of wind farm projects in Australia, including the 180-megawatt Berrybank Wind Farm in Victoria.

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