With wind in his sails

Shepparton News
Tuesday 17/7/2007 Page: 1

The wind turbine is just one way Grant Taresch is setting a sustainability example at his vineyard, which he sees as a model for eco-farming. Grant Taresch is the first to admit the windchill factor at his Upton Hill winery, between Euroa and Ruffy, is a force to be reckoned with. The wind bites at the rocky countryside - and anything in its path - with the ferocity of a tiger, but luckily its oomph is not going to waste.

A 30m wind turbine churns to life after a brief power outage and starts spinning like a windmill on steroids. It generates double the energy needed to power the winery Mr Taresch and his wife Suzanne own and injects enough electricity back into the grid to power 34 houses. The turbine has been operational since January, but was a long time in the making. "I started on it five years ago and it's been standing there for a couple of years waiting for power grid connection," Mr Taresch said. "It was quite a big process because it was all new. I don't know whether there's any of the same machines in Australia." He bought the Bonus 150 kW wind turbine second-hand from Denmark, where it is widely used.

Since it arrived, the turbine has been reconditioned and Mr Taresch has been lucky to find a previous Bonus employee, now living in Melbourne, to help maintain it. He said the set-up cost the family $300 000, but it is part of a broader plan. "We did it because it makes sense," Mr Taresch said. "We want to run the place in a way that in generations to come, they'll still be able to run it in the same way."