BENEFITS

We aim to contribute to host communities in ways that are of mutual benefit for the wind farm project and the community.

Community Benefits

Pre-Construction Community Grant Program

At Lacour, we care about building genuine, long-lasting relationships with our stakeholders and the communities in which we work.

Through our community grants, we endeavour to look out for each other, our environment, and provide benefits to the communities we work in.  We focus on supporting initiatives that enhance communities for the long term—programs that are educational, sustainable, and aligned with the specific needs of each community.  We aim to provide diversity in or grants so that they reach a broad cross section of the local community.

Pre- Construction Community Grants cover the period during the planning and approvals phase (pre-construction) of the project. Should the wind farm be granted approval, an annual Community Benefit Fund will commence during construction. We anticipate that Pre-Construction grants are typically between $500-$2,000 per award.

Applications for the first Pre-Construction Grant Scheme closed in November 2025, and we were thrilled to receive such a strong pool of submissions. We’re delighted to announce the programs we have supported.

  • Darkan & Districts Sports Club - Darkan Community Christmas Tree Event 2025

  • West Arthur Seniors Luncheon 2025

  • Darkan Playgroup - Giggle and Grow Sessions 2026

  • Darkan Primary School - Art Exhibition 2026

  • Regional Early Education & Development, Darkan - Waterwise Children Program 2026

  • Southern Agcare -Rural Counselling and Support 2026

  • West Arthur Cottage homes – Garden Maintenance 2026

  • Darkan Primary School - Year 5/6 Camp 2026

2026 Pre-Construction Community Grant Round 2

Applications for our 2026 Pre-construction Grant are now closed. We are currently assessing all applications and will notify successful applications shortly.  

Long Term Community Benefit Fund

  • Renewable energy projects developed by Lacour Energy have all had Community Benefit Funds as a key commitment.

  • The State Government body, PoweringWA, has released its Community Benefits Guideline for Large-scale Renewable Energy Projects in the South West Interconnected System.

  • We are committed to ensuring the project delivers overall community benefit in the order of $1,050 per MW of installed wind farm capacity from the start of construction through operations. This commitment is inline with the Shire of West Arthur’s Community Benefit Fund Policy and starts earlier in the project lifecycle and is greater in value than PoweringWA’s Benefit Values Guideline.

  • The community benefit amount per year will therefore be dependent on the overall size of the wind farm project being constructed but based on a likely project size of between 300MW and 500 MW, this would be approximately $315,000 to $525,000 a year.

  • Community benefit from a renewable energy project, such as a wind farm, can be delivered in a number of different forms including:

    • Direct financial contributions (e.g. annual contribution to a Community Benefit Fund); and/or 

    • One-off contributions to specific local infrastructure projects (e.g. significant grant to a specific community project); and/or 

    • Construction of legacy infrastructure that benefits the whole community (e.g. new temporary or permeant accommodation, telecommunications towers).

Once the scale of the project is finalised, the overall Community Benefit Fund amount will be confirmed.

Please get in touch and tell us what benefits you would like to see a wind farm bring to your community.

Employment Opportunities

The proposed project offers significant employment opportunities locally and regionally, during Construction and Operations. At its peak, the workforce involved in construction is expected to be at least 250 people. Service providers, individuals and contractors can register their interest via the project website, and will be kept up to date on the latest opportunities. When the project proceeds, the principal contractor appointed to build this project will be required to ensure local businesses and individuals are given every opportunity to be involved in the project. 

During the 30 year operational period we expect that there will be 15-20 people employed on operating and maintaining the wind farm project.

If you are a local business wanting to supply services to the project now, or during construction and operation, please register your interest and tell us what you do.