Andrew Forrest’s Fortescue unveils huge new wind project, next to Gina Rinehart lease, in push to real zero
The electric excavator at Cloudbreak Mine. Credit: Fortescue
Sophie Vorrath & Giles Parkinson
Oct 22, 2025
Renewables
Andrew Forrest’s push to real zero has stepped up a notch with the unveiling of a new 200-turbine, more than 2 gigawatt wind project that is designed to help his giant iron ore operations in the Pilbara eliminate the burning of fossil fuels by the end of the decade.
Fortescue subsidiary, Pilbara Energy, is proposing to develop the Bonney Downs wind farm around 9 km south-west of the town of Nullagine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, near the company’s Christmas Creek iron ore mine site.
It is a key part of Fortescue’s plan to reach “real zero” by 2030, which will require nearly 3 GW of wind and solar, battery storage, and the electrification of their mining operations and transport.
According to documents referred for assessment under the EPBC Act on Wednesday, the Bonney Downs project would involve the installation of up to 200 wind turbines and six substations, with a target installed renewable energy capacity of approximately 2.1 gigawatts (GW).
The “disturbance area” of the project – which is separate to and likely to precede Fortescue’s previously proposed 2.1 GW East Pilbara Generation Hub – will include the Bonney Downs, Hillside and Roy Hill pastoral leases.
The Roy Hill component is intriguing, because that pastoral lease is held by avowed renewables opponent, and fellow iron ore magnate, Gina Rinehart.
However, the planning document note that all the proposed turbines will be located on the Bonney Downs lease, and the small section affective Roy Hill appears to be related to transmission infrastructure.
The documents say Fortescue representatives met with Roy Hill representatives on May 22 this year, and were asked for more documents, including a spacial file.
The documents note that the pastoral leases are managed under the Land and Administration Act 1997 and say that the proposed wind farm will “utilise tenure under the WA Mining Act 1978.”
According to the plans, the southern edge of the wind farm will be adjacent to Fortescue’s Christmas Creek Iron Ore Mine Expansion project, with a 220 kV transmission line proposed to connect the wind farm to the mine.
 
The plans also include temporary infrastructure like construction laydown areas and site offices, and permanent supporting infrastructure including accommodation camps, operations support offices, communications towers, landfill facilities, and a series of access roads and corridors for overhead electrical reticulation.
The documents say the spacing and proposed design layout of the project’s 200 wind turbines has been informed by an assessment of existing topography and wind and climate data, to optimise efficiency and power output.
But Fortescue says the turbine placement remains flexible to minimise environmental and social impacts.
The big new wind proposal arrives on the heels of a series of landmark deals unveiled by Fortescue last month, that include the full purchase of the Spanish-based Nabrawind (his company Fortescue Metals already held a minority stake) and the decision to roll out this technology with Chinese turbine maker Envision.
As Renew Economy reported at the time, these deals are significant for a number of reasons.
For one, the deal with Fortescue marks Envision’s first large contract in Australia, and many developers are looking to the company to add much-needed price competition in a market that has been rocked by rising costs, particularly on the civil construction side.
But the marriage of Nabrawind’s “self-lifting” technology with Envision’s EN182-7.8 MW turbines is also a fascinating move.
See our previous story on this technology: The radical new self-lifting turbines Andrew Forrest wants to install at Australia’s biggest wind project
The technology is designed to lift the turbine blades higher into the air, meaning it can access stronger wind conditions – and the combination of lower costs and higher yield could be make or break for projects of that scale.
It does this with a self lifting technology – which eliminates the need for giant cranes – a crucial point in remove areas. And its use of a “tripod” base in turns means smaller concrete foundations, and a lot less concrete – again alleviating a potential logistical headache in remote, hot regions where concrete pours are already a challenge.
At the time, the innovative turbine supply deal – initially for 132 megawatts of what could be a 2.1 gigawatt (GW) project – was thought to have been for Fortescue’s East Pilbara Generation Hub, which is proposed for north-east of Nullagine.
But Fortescue now says the Envision/Nabrawind turbines will be used at Bonney Downs, presuming the project gains all necessary approvals. The East Pilbara hub remains an option, particularly if it strikes success on its green iron plans.
According to the EPBC referral documents, Fortescue expects the proposed wind farm to have a life of 25-30 years, but adds that “with asset life extension (including turbine replacement), could “operate indefinitely.”
The company says the land that would host the turbines has been used for grazing, conservation reserves and mining leases.
“There are 109 active iron ore mines with the East Pilbara producing half of the Pilbara’s total iron ore production … and generating $57.6 billion in commodities in 2020,” the documents say.
“Additional operational mines within 50 km of the Proposed Action Area are associated with East Pilbara Iron Ore (Fortescue), Marillana Agate, McPhee Creek and Roy Hill Iron Ore.”
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