Councils join wind revolution

Sunday Tasmanian
21 August 2011, Page: 14

SEVERAL well known locations near Hobart have been identified as having the right conditions for a southern Tasmanian wind farm proposal. They include Mt Wellington, Collinsvale, Eaglehawk Neck and Nubeena, where wind speeds are considered to have suitable strength and consistency. Other locations were identified in the state's South but are unlikely to be seriously considered because of their remoteness. They include Maatsuyker, Maria and Tasman Islands, Cape Bruny, Hartz Mountain, Scotts Peak Dam and Liawenee. All of the locations are listed in a report conducted by Environ Australia for the Hobart City Council.

HCC alderman Bill Harvey described the report as an ABC of wind farms compiled to get southern councils thinking about the possibility of a jointly-owned wind farm. A farm with seven two MW wind turbines would be needed to offset the greenhouse gas emissions associated with electricity consumption of all southern councils. Three turbines of the same size could offset the HCC's electricity consumption, while one turbine would offset the impact of street lighting. Sites within a 120km radius of Hobart were considered. To be suitable for an efficient wind farm, a site should have an average annual wind speed of at least 5.5m/s at ground level.

The Environ Australia report says a council-owned wind farm is economically feasible for the South, mainly because of the projected increase in the price of Renewable Energy Certificates beyond 2014. However, it points to the need for community acceptance of any wind farm proposal, the capacity of the electricity grid to accommodate the development, planning and infrastructure constraints and the impact of the wind farm on council resources.

Ald Harvey said the next stage of planning would be more specialised and include a more specific search for a likely location. "This is a good initial report, especially to give to other councils to encourage them to be part of it", he said. Ald Harvey said it would be difficult for Hobart or any other council to go it alone on a wind farm. "One of the main points we need to consider is that if we want to get federal funding, especially funding associated with the carbon tax, we need to be looking at this project as a region", he said. "If we do it individually, it doesn't have the same clout. We hope the other councils realise it's important to do it as a region".

Ald Harvey said the successful placement and construction of a wind farm would rely on gaining community support, particularly from residents in the area where the facility was constructed. "It comes down to what's the best location with regard to threatened species, wind resource and community acceptance. They are the main factors we need to be considering", he said. In July the Hobart City Council posted letters to other southern councils asking them to commit to further investigation. Glenorchy Mayor Adriana Taylor said her council was supportive of the idea, but could not currently spare any money for wind farm studies.

However, Ald Taylor said this could change if more federal funding for renewable energy projects became available after the introduction of the carbon tax. "We really commend Hobart City Council for taking the lead on this, because we think it's a great idea, but at the moment we don't have money in our budget to support it financially", she said. Kingborough Mayor Graham Bury said his council supported further investigation into a wind farm, but would not contribute any money for further reports yet.

Southern Midlands Mayor Tony Bisdee said he could see the potential of a councils'-owned wind farm which could bring benefits to rural areas. This week, the Tasman Council will vote on a motion to support the Hobart City Council's investigations. Mayor Jan Barwick said she thought councillors would vote in favour of joining a working group to delve further into the proposal. With three sites within her coastal municipality identified as having a usable wind resource, Cr Barwick said the siting issue on any wind farm would be a complex local process.