Snowtown is surrounded by picturesque farmland and salt lakes but the beauty is at odds with its gory reputation as the home of the infamous "bodies in the barrels" discovery – a badge the town is hoping to lose with the completion of the country's second-largest windfarm.

The stunning landscape, just two hours' drive from Adelaide, is already dotted with the turbines of the Snowtown Wind Farm, which will be the largest of its kind in South Australia.

Trust Power, the owner of the enormous energy project, expects to complete the second stage of construction of 90 turbines by late 2014 and says it will power more than 40% of the state by 2020.

Residents have been hoping the wind farm will give them a new kind of notoriety ever since it was proposed a few years after police discovered the bodies of eight murder victims stored in barrels of acid and hidden inside the rented Snowtown bank building in May 1999.

The convoluted and gruesome story of what turned out to be one of Australia's worst mass murders horrified the country, and a highly regarded and publicised 2011 movie based on the killings contributed to international renown.

Between 1992 and 1999 12 people were brutally killed by a group of Adelaide men led by John Bunting. The victims were all known to at least one of the killers – often a relative, friend or neighbour. The joint trial of Bunting and Robert Wagner revealed evidence of horrific actions including dismemberment, prolonged torture and cannibalism. The two men were sentenced to life without parole.

The case has shackled the small town of 500 with a grim and undeserved celebrity. The murders didn't actually involve anyone from Snowtown.

The Snowtown gift shop has capitalised on the tourism the town's gruesome history brings. Photograph: Helen Davidson for the Guardian

"People themselves don't think about it," says resident Ros Large. "It's when tourists come in and say 'where's the bank', and you just go 'what, again?'. "I know they're curious to know where the bank is and that sort of thing, but gosh, that happened 15 years ago."

Residents are well and truly over talking about the murders – but it brings them attention, and with it business. The local gift shop sells small barrel figurines and fridge magnets ("Snowtown - You'll have a barrel of fun"). There was also once talk of changing the name to Rosetown but it was quickly mooted.

The town doesn't do a great job of helping people forget, however. Visitors do a double take when they reach the turn-off at the highway.

Below the sign pointing right to Snowtown is another – the brown and white kind that signals a tourist attraction – reading "the Big Blade". Snowtown and a "Big Blade" monument? Surely it wouldn't be so crass? But it's not what you expect; the "blade" is a rotor blade from one of the enormous wind turbines, mounted on poles in the centre of town in tribute to the project that people hope will reassign their infamy.

The windfarm is a boon for the town and Snowtown is also unique in its overwhelmingly positive reaction to the energy project.

"We've got no complaints," resident Alan Large told Guardian Australia when we visited.

"The Snowtown people are quite happy about the fact that the wind farms are here."

Large said the windfarm in nearby Clare is "getting flack about the noise and chickens laying eggs with no yolks and things like that". But he and his wife Ros don't understand that. The sentiment echoes among the area's population.

All the turbines are on private land, and Trust Power constructed several fire trails which came in handy for local firefighters when recent lightning strikes sparked a couple of bushfires.

The energy retailer also contributes $15,000 a year to the community through the Lend a Hand Foundation which Large runs as president of the Snowtown Lions Club. The foundation funds small projects in Snowtown and the wider community with the money and has "no trouble spending it every year". Recent purchases include a lawn mower for the bowling club, a skate park for local kids and emergency response pendants for some of the elderly population.

The contribution – which also received a $10,000 bump from turbine manufacturer Siemens this year – will increase to $45,000 from next year.

The Larges have lived in Snowtown for around 50 years, which they said makes them "nearly locals. You have your ups and downs with it, but all together it's really a good town," said Mrs Large.

Dennis and Andreen Tothill, who own 1000 acres in the area, say the town got a bad name it didn't deserve from the murders, but there's nothing you can do to change it.

As soon as the windfarm project was given the go ahead, the Tothills signed up, eager for the financial security it offered farmers and the environmental benefits of renewable energy.

"It's always been a daydream, always," says Mrs Tothill. "The windfarm is a constant income whether it's raining or whether it's a drought."

Mr Tothill added: "I'd rather have these than a nuclear power station sitting here."

The seven turbines on the Tothill property are along a high ridgeline that's only useful for grazing, and the animals aren't bothered, often seeking shelter in the shade of the machines.

"Our ridge tops don't interfere with tourism or anything else," Mrs Tothill said. "And we're all just grateful as hell."