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.

To learn more, please refer to the Lacour Energy Pre-Construction Community Grant Guidelines. 

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 are supporting and look forward to highlighting some of these exciting initiatives in our upcoming newsletters.

West Arthur Seniors Luncheon

Darkan Community Christmas Tree Event

Southern Agcare

Darkan Primary School 2026 Art Exhibition

Darkan Primary School Year 5/6 Camp

West Arthur Cottage homes – garden maintenance

Darkan Playgroup Giggle and Grow

Regional Early Education & Development - Waterwise children Program.

Our next round of community grants will open mid 2026.

Long Term Community Benefit Fund

  • Lacour Energy has made commitments to community contributions in each of the renewable energy projects it has developed.

  • We have reviewed the Shire of West Arthur Renewable Energy Community Benefit Fund (CBF) and are broadly supportive.

  • The State Government body, PoweringWA, is currently undertaking statewide consultation on Community Benefits for Renewable Energy Projects.

  • We are committed to ensuring the project delivers overall community benefit in the order of $1,050 per MW of installed wind farm capacity.

  • The final 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 and the State government have finalised their guidance, 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.