Energy change in the wind

Country Leader Tamworth
Monday 25/6/2007 Page: 11

AMONG the infusion of new technology to generate power is one of the latest innovations: wind farms. The Starfish Hill Wind Farm is one of the first to come into operation in Australia and is already making a difference to the environmental way of generating power. The Starfish Hill Wind Farm will reduce Australia's greenhouse gas emissions by up to 2.1 million tonnes of CO(2) during its forecast 25-year operating life. The $65 million, 34.5 megawatt, (MW) wind farm near Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula is South Australia's first wind farm.

Starfish Hill Wind Farm provides enough energy to meet the needs of about 18,000 households, representing 2 per cent of South Australia's residential customers. The project was developed by Starfish Hill Wind Farm Pty Ltd, a wholly owned company of Tarong Energy The wind farm has two major elements: A 34.5MW wind farm comprising 23 turbines, each of 1.5 MW capacity. A 25km overhead transmission line to connect the wind farm to the ET electricity distribution network at Yankalilla. It's located across two hills, Starfish and Salt Creek, with eight turbines on Starfish and 15 on Salt Creek.