Mr Rees said the wind farm would create 700 jobs in the Broken Hill area during the five-year construction period and 120 jobs when up and running.
The renewable energy group Epuron, part of the Macquarie Group, proposed the wind farm in 2007.
The first stage of construction was approved on the conditions Epuron adhere to noise guidelines, maintain visual amenity and limit environmental impacts.
Stage one will involve erecting 282 wind turbines, with the number increasing to 598 by the final stage.
NSW had approved 14 wind farms with a total capacity output of 2,486 megawatts since 2005, Mr Rees said.
“When all of these wind farms are up and running they will save more than six million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually,” he said.
“This is the same as taking over one million cars off the road and will have capacity to power approximately 800,000 houses.”