A spokesperson for Vestas - a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines - said they did not wish to disclose the investment amount but the move was "an important step in Vestas improving our offer to customers beyond turbine supply, Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracting and long-term service to complete projects". A small percentage of the project is still owned by community stakeholders, including Mr Blomfield.

Winterbourne Wind Farm, which has a potential capacity of up to 700MW, is the first stage of the wind component of The Walcha Energy Project. Energy Estate is the advisory firm behind the Walcha Energy Project, and principal Vincent Dwyer said the Vestas investment would accelerate the development of the Winterbourne Wind Farm and help realise the 'considerable renewable energy potential' of the broader New England region.

"We are fortunate to be working with Vestas as the world's leading wind equipment manufacturer to unlock the potential of Walcha," Mr Dwyer said.

Vestas will now lead the development of Winterbourne Wind Farm with the team from the Walcha Energy Project assisting with land, community engagement and grid strategy. They say the next stage of the development of the Winterbourne Wind Farm will focus on the preparation of an environmental impact assessment to support a development application in 2020. Subject to obtaining the necessary approvals, the wind farm is planned to commence operations in 2022.

While details are yet to be revealed the Walcha Energy Project development team say they have worked closely with the surrounding community and 'designed innovative arrangements that seek to balance the interests of the key landholders, their neighbours, the community and other stakeholders'.

"A key feature of The Walcha Energy Project is the unique community benefit model, including an ownership interest in the Winterbourne Wind Farm," said Walcha Energy Project director Mark Waring.

"We've been engaging with the Walcha community for more than 14 years, and continued engagement, benefit sharing and responsible development are core values for our team."

Walcha Councillor Peter Blomfield is one of a group of directors working with the Walcha Energy Project to ensure that the community gets a share out of the Winterbourne Wind Farm development. Even though he has been working towards this week's announcement for close to 15 years, he is still stunned by the news.

"I'm just sort of overwhelmed almost because it has been so long," Mr Blomfield said.

"I'm just really, really excited because this is a project that's going to help this community to be more sustainable and help lots of farmers as well.

"There are enormous benefits for this community as this project develops."

However, Mr Blomfield says he doesn't think the community will see the benefits flow through for a few years yet.

"I think it could be quite a while - it's a shared thing, but it also reflects on the free cash flow of the development so it is something that will grow over time," he said.

"The intention of the Winterbourne people and Mark Waring is that the community and landowners will get a substantial amount of money through a community fund going into the future.

"It's something I can't put a figure on until it has been running for at least a year, but I'm fairly sure we will get a fair amount of money coming back into the community annually."

Recent solar farm development proposals in the Uralla Shire resulted in the formation of a community action group, but Mr Blomfield says he is not aware of any Walcha residents who are opposed to the Winterbourne Wind Farm.

"People in the Winterbourne area have been amazingly supportive so far," he said.

"So far, so good - but you never know. There are some people who would prefer not to have infrastructure on their property, but they're accepting that other people are quite determined to because it is a way of them sustaining their farms."

The community fund and benefit sharing arrangements were designed to ensure everyone shared in the wind farm's success, Mr Blomfield said.

"It will be landowners with infrastructure like powerlines, substations and turbines who get payments but also if it is visible to them, their near neighbours will get some sort of reward. And then there is the community fund which will grow as the thing grows as well," he said.

"This is the first step and hopefully in the future the second stage will be Ruby Hills Wind which would be at the top of the range to the west of the town and from there if we're going to get up to 3,000 MW of wind there is potential for turbines from Hartford right down the Brackendale Road really. That's how we will eventually get up to somewhere between two and three thousand megawatts of wind. The area is a good wind resource - its excellent."

The Walcha Energy Project is the largest single renewable energy project being developed in Australia's main grid.