Construction contract firm Leighton Contractors revealed on Thursday that it has been awarded a $290 million contract to build the planned AGL Energy-Meridian huge wind farm complex in Macarthur, Victoria.

The company said that the project is a joint undertaking with Denmark-based Vestas Wind System though most of the engineering, procurement and construction work would be handled by Leighton, with Vestas providing the technology to be utilised by the sprawling wind farm.

Apart from the major work details stipulated in the contract project, Leighton said that it would install some 140 Vestas V112-3.0 MW wind turbine generators, which the facility would use in providing electricity to some 200,000 thousand homes in Victoria.

Leighton said that the contract covers for the construction of the Macarthur Wind Farm 33/132kV sub-station, Tarrone 132/500kV terminal sub-station, 12km of 132kV overhead transmission line to the Tarrone terminal sub-station, 33kV underground cable collector systems, sub-station SCADA interface.

The contractor is also set to facilitate the international shipping and local transportation required in moving that 85 metre towers that would hold the machine heads and blades, which the company said would be erected through mechanical manipulation.

Company managing director Peter McMorrow said that the project is poised to establish the necessary infrastructure that would transmit renewable energy to the states' industry sectors and residential communities.

Mr McMorrow stressed that "our priority will be to deliver a quality project on time, while ensuring our teams meet world-class safety standards," as he noted that Leighton had collaborated with Vestas before, when the two companies jointly completed the construction of South Australia's Lake Bonney Wind Farm.