Wind farm blows in

Southern Times Messenger
Wednesday 25/6/2008 Page: 11

THE first signs of the controversial $60 million Myponga Wind Farm project should appear next month after more than seven years of delays. Screen tree plantings on the site, located between Sellicks Hill and Myponga, are scheduled to start in late July in preparation for major works on the Trust Power project next year. New Zealand-based Trust Power's development manager Rodney Ahern said the plantation of two to three rows of trees would follow a fence line on Reservoir Rd.

He said no other development works would be noticeable until 2009. "There might be people down there doing detailed design work and the like, but you won't see any physical work on the ground," he said. The project's 20 turbines will generate 35MW of electricity - enough to power 17,000 homes annually. Originally the design was for 40-80 turbines on Sellicks Hill but this was scaled back amid community protests about the visual impact.

Trust Power is finalising the contractual paperwork, Mr Ahern said, and discussions were continuing with Planning SA on extending the planning approval deadline. "We have a view to conclude all the arrangements in a matter of weeks, ready for construction in the second quarter of 2009." Each turbine unit will consist of a 67m tower and three 33m blades, dotted on the hills behind Mount Terrible to Heatherdale Hill. It will be the south's second dollar wind farm, the other being the Starfish Hill project near Rapid Bay. Trust Power also expects to have its $200 million Snowtown Wind Farm fully operational by September.