Farm benefits flow on to community

Bendigo Advertiser
19/05/2007 Page: 28

FOUR wind energy facilities are now operating in Victoria. Codrington, Toora and Wonthaggi are near the coast, while Challicum Hills is well inland, south-east of Ararat. Their total operational output is 104 megawatts. By way of comparison, three megawatts is sufficient to power 3000 homes.

There have been three major approvals of wind farms in Victoria in recent times, which will lead to a huge increase in the amount of wind-generated power produced in this state over the next few years. In August last year, the Mount Gellibrand site near Colac, was approved for a 232 megawatt wind farm, a $380 million project which will provide the electricity needs of 133,450 homes.

In October last year, the State Government announced approval for Australia's largest wind farm of 329 megawatts near Macarthur. This $600 million project will provide the electricity needs of 190,000 homes and last month the minister announced his approval of the Mt Mercer wind farm near Daylesford, which will have a capacity of 160 megawatts and save an estimated 390,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

Across Bass Strait, Hydro Tasmania will commission a major project expanding the existing windfarm at Woolnorth in Tasmania's north west. The existing plant produces 65 megawatts of power and the upgrade will deliver a further 75 megawatts, bringing online Australia's biggest windfarm to date.

There has been a huge increase in the economies of scale for wind farming, with new European technology turning out turbines capable of producing three megawatts of power each and some capable of producing five megawatts each. A side benefit both overseas and in Australia has been the steady flow of tourists coming to see wind farms in action.

Hydro Tasmania spokesman Josh Bradshaw said 35,000 people had been through the Woolnorth facility since it opened in 2004 and a local tour company was set up specifically to guide visitors around the site. He said other local benefits included upgraded roads and electrical systems and hundreds of construction jobs during the development of each plant, along with the flow-on effects to small town food and accommodation businesses, as well as the tourism potential.