March 16, 2007
Australia
Australia
A Hepburn councillor is questioning how a community-owned wind farm in the shire, north-east of Ballarat, can afford the costs of establishing.
The two turbine wind farm at Leonard’s Hill is estimated to cost more than $8 million.
Already the group behind it has been given $1 million from the State Government.
But Cr Bill McClenaghan says he is doubting whether the 400 members of the group will be able to afford the contribution required to make it happen.
“Now they suggest that will be community-owned. If every member of the Hepburn Renewable Energy Association, there being over 400 of them, were to divvy that up amongst them they would probably be up for about $170,000 each, which I certainly can’t see them finding,” he said.
“So I suspect the ownership of that wind farm will end up in the hands of big business.”
16 March 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/03/16/councillor-casts-doubt-over-wind-farm-affordability/