Civic wind power plan widens focus

Hobart Mercury
29 July 2011, Page: 5

SOUTHERN Tasmanian councils are considering a $22 million proposal to generate their own wind power. The plan, put forward by Hobart City Council alderman Bill Harvey, suggests councils could cancel out their power bills by investing in wind turbines.

Aid Harvey said the Federal Government's $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation, coupled with Tasmania's Action Plan to Reduce Emissions, could provide the extra boost needed to get the idea across the line. He said Hobart aldermen were supportive, provided a wind farm stacked up financially and met high community standards.

The HCC last week posted letters to other southern Tasmanian councils asking if they wanted to participate. The councils are considering a report that proposes seven 2 MW turbines worth about $22 million or, if the HCC goes it alone, four turbines. Aid Harvey said the turbines could be scattered across several locations in the state. "The return to councils is looking quite positive", he said.

Aid Harvey, who first raised the idea last year, said by killing its own $3 million-a-year power bill, the HCC could add value for ratepayers or even provide rate relief. He said the HCC would make a decision whether to engage a consultant and to move the project to the next stage, with or without other councils, in the next few weeks. He said it was time for councils to get serious and stop messing around with token efforts such as tiny roof-top turbines or solar panels. "This would be pioneering. No other Australian council has yet to generate a significant amount of energy", he said.

Aid Harvey said individuals and businesses could also be invited to invest in wind turbines as shareholders alongside councils, following the example of a successful community co-operative wind farm near the Victorian towns of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs. The co-operative, supported by the Victorian Government, has built a wind farm that produces enough energy for 2300 households almost enough for all of the houses in the two districts.