Wind farm open

Port Lincoln Times
Thursday 26/4/2007 Page: 2

WIND energy may be the way of the future and the public is invited to come and see why at an open day at the region's first wind farm, Cathedral Rocks near Sleaford. With absolutely no emissions, wind farm energy is the way of the future, according to Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm facilities manager John Fannin.

Mr Fannin said wind farms in Australia had huge potential, with large areas of land earmarked for development, but these were currently in limbo because of a lack of support from the Federal Government for renewable energy and a low Mandatory Renewable Energy Target.

"There could be a big wind industry in Port Lincoln as a number of developers are waiting on the sideline for changes to government policy so they can build. "Australia is so far behind the rest of the world - Europe is doing it, America's doing it, China's doing it. "China is a developing country and they can see the future is in the wind and one day in the very near future they will be one of the superpowers in the wind industry - a lot of money is being invested on wind farms at the moment in China.

There are 17,000 people working in the wind farm industry in Australia, but there could be at least 33,000 and investment of over $30 billion if the Federal Government backed the wind industry and the renewable energy sector according to Mr Fannin. The push for clean energy was being helped along by public opinion, which is swaying strongly toward environmental awareness.

"I think people are concerned about global warming and our biggest threat is changes to the environment. "We need to do everything we can to stop this. "We can't keep producing the majority of Australia's energy from fossil fuels.

At maximum capacity the Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm generates 66 megawatts of green energy - more than enough green electricity to power Port Lincoln and surrounding districts. Mr Fannin said while some community and school groups had been taken on tours of the site, and a groundbreaking ceremony was held with State Government minister Patrick Conlon prior to construction in late 2005, an official open day had not yet been held.

"When the public gets off the bus at the wind turbine they will feel the strong wind coming off the southern ocean, they can stand under the rotating blades of a wind turbine and hear for themselves that these machines aren't at all noisy." Mr Fannin said he was hoping the community would show its support and turn up on the day. "I hope to see somewhere between 500 to 2500 people come through the gates - the more the better.

The Cathedral Rocks Wind Farm, about 30 kilometres south-west of Port Lincoln, is a joint venture project between Acciona Energy and Roaring 40s. It will be open to the general public on May 5 from 10am to 3pm, with guided bus tours of the wind farm leaving every 10 to 15 minutes from the site's car park.

Entry is free with a gold coin donation for parking going to the Port Lincoln State Emergency Service. Visitors are expected to wear enclosed shoes for safety reasons.