Windfall: $1.3 billion turbine deal to power 225,000 homes

Adelaide Advertiser
31 August 2011

One of the biggest windfarms in the Southern Hemisphere-a $1.3 billion investment-will be built on Yorke Peninsula. The wind farm, to be located about 20 km south-west of Ardrossan, near Pine Point, will generate up to 600 MW of electricity a day, which is about 25% of the state's daily consumption. It will provide enough power for 225,000 homes a year.

A huge undersea cable will link the wind farm's 180 turbines with the main power grid in Adelaide. It is one of the key projects Premier Mike Rann wanted to lock in before he stands down on October 20. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2015, creating 500 jobs during construction, and will provide 50 ongoing positions over 25 years.

The Suzlon Energy group, based in India, is developing the wind farm. The project will also involve a pilot power plant that would convert biomass into energy, which would also be fed into South Australia's power supply. Biomass is biological material from living, or recently living organisms. These include municipal solid waste, dead trees and clippings, which can be used to generate electricity or produce heat. Further wind farm development is expected in South Australia following the Victorian Government decision to introduce tough new guidelines for the generators.

There have been protests from landowners in South Australia about wind farms being located close to their properties-the latest in the south-east, where the Environment, Resources and Development Court blocked the proposed $175 million Acciona Energy wind farm at Allendale East. There have also been growing protests from residents in the mid-North about wind farms on the grounds of their possible health dangers.

Suzlon Energy EnergyAustralia chief executive Dan Hansen said the project, to be known as Ceres Power and named after a steamship with sails that was built in 1976 for a South Australian company, had been initiated by Yorke Peninsula farmers and local developers. Suzlon Energy has already installed 6 windfarms in South Australia with an installed capacity of 507 MW and already employs 92 people here. "The Ceres Power project will create local jobs, place the region on the global map as a leader in renewable technologies and give Peninsula farmers and landowners the opportunity to diversify their income streams", Mr Hansen said.

Mr Hansen said it was estimated the project would save up to 2600 million litres of clean water had the power been produced from a coal-fired source. "This is consistent with a commitment by the South Australian government in June, 2009, to increase its renewable energy production target to 33% by 2020", he said.

Mr Rann described the new development as "the mother of all windfarms", although he said it would have to go through the normal regulatory and planning processes. "It will be one of the biggest windfarms in the world", he told The Advertiser yesterday. "Currently, with only 7.2% of Australia's population we have 54% of Australia's wind power. We have, per capita, 5 times more wind power than Victoria and 10 times more than New South Wales". Mr Rann said South Australia was now "in the box seat for future wind power development". He said this had been done without costing taxpayers any money.