April 12, 2007
Australia
Australia
The Victorian Government has approved a 64-turbine wind farm to be built at a rural site west of Melbourne.
The 160MW wind farm will be built on 2600ha of farm land at Mt Mercer, about 30km south of Ballarat.
It is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 73,000 homes.
Planning Minister Justin Madden said the development, approved on the recommendation of an independent panel, was an economic and environmental boon for Victoria.
“The Mt Mercer wind farm will be a win for the environment, a win for jobs and a win for sustainable development in rural and regional Victoria,” Mr Madden said.
“We expect this project alone to save more than 390,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – that’s 11.7 million `black balloons’ that would otherwise be floating up into the atmosphere.”
The wind farm was expected to take between 12 to 18 months to install and would create up to 120 construction jobs and 12 permanent positions, Mr Madden said.
It is the 11th wind farm approved in Victoria, with four wind farms already operational.
The Victorian Government has funded television ads with greenhouse gas emissions depicted by black balloons rising from electrical appliances into the sky.
12 April 2007
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2007/04/12/wind-farm-gets-green-light-4/