The switch yards now being built at Tarrone to harness electricity generated in the area. 120608AB01
A DRAMATIC change to the landscape may have already begun, but it is only the tip of the iceberg.
The much talked-about clean energy boom has arrived in the Moyne Shire and there is much more to come.
Wind turbines at the Macarthur wind farm are rising on the horizon at a rapid rate, while the Mortlake power station is now complete.
But these major projects are just a indication of what is coming this way, with the latest estimations of planned clean energy projects producing some mind-boggling figures.
Figures supplied by the Moyne Shire show that there are 17 wind farms either completed or proposed for the shire.
The number of wind turbines should all projects proceed totals 1006.
The construction cost is estimated to be $5.4 billion.
There are also another three power stations worth an estimated $7.425 billion listed, and a geothermal project proposed for the region.
While these projects are spread across the shire, a closer look reveals a concentration of the projects around the tiny farming hamlet of Tarrone.
Twelve of the clean energy projects are within a 30-kilometre radius of Tarrone, and these include the operational wind farms at Codrington and Yambuk.
Some of the other listed projects are wind farms at Ryan's Corner, Tarrone, Woolsthorpe, Hawkesdale, Macarthur, Penshurst and Willatook. Power stations at Shaw River, Orford, and Tarrone as well as a geothermal project north-west of Koroit are also proposed in this 30-kilometre radius.
The wind farms proposed are sizable and the associated number of turbines, at 673, accounts for more than two-thirds of the total wind turbine numbers planned in the Moyne Shire.
On top of these projects, Tarrone is now home to two major switch yards which are being built as part of the Macarthur wind farm.
The switch yards are also expected to be used by other clean energy projects .
They are connected to the Macarthur wind farm by a chain of huge power poles and lines which transfer power to the grid.
While the area around Tarrone is set to take the brunt of the projects, Port Fairy and Koroit are not immune to the impacts.
The Macarthur wind farm towers can be seen from Koroit while the Ryans Corner wind farm will be just 20 kilometres from both Port Fairy and Koroit.