April 3, 2018
Australia

Wind farm proposal

Circular Head Chronicle | www.chchronicle.com.au

Application. Port Latta is the latest location in Circular Head to be considered for a wind farm.

Nekon, a Tasmanian based property developer and owner, has submitted a development application to Circular Head Council for a wind farm at Port Latta.

The proposed project will be located two kilometres south west of the Grange Resources facility on land currently used for cattle grazing, adjacent to the council’s landfill site.

Project advisor Paul Fulton said the wind farm will consist of seven turbines with an installed generation capacity of approximately 25 megawatts.

“The wind farm will generate enough electricity to power approximately 9500 typical Tasmanian households, which is approximately one per cent of Tasmania’s current electrical energy use.

“The Port Latta site was selected because it has an excellent wind resource, a large area of cleared land, appropriate zoning, supportive landowners and a ready connection to the electricity grid at the Port Latta substation.”

Mr Fulton said because Port Latta substation is less than one kilometre to the border of the wind farm, no new overhead electricity lines are required to connect the wind farm to the substation.

“The present agricultural use of land can continue virtually uninterrupted. The wind farm also provides an additional source of income for the landowners.”

Detailed studies relating to flora and fauna, Aboriginal heritage, visual amenity, noise, geotechnical conditions, and other considerations are included in the development application.

Bird utilisation surveys and bat surveys have been carried out at the site and a risk assessment undertaken. The risk assessment included in the application has shown that the wind farm will not have a significant effect to birds or bats due to the small number of machines being installed, their placement in cleared pasture areas and the lack of collision-prone species using the site.

To assist in the assessment of visual effects, photomontages – computer generated photographic representations – of the proposal have been prepared. The proposed turbines will be situated on an elevated coastal plain and will be visible from some locations nearby, but are unlikely to be intrusively visible from the local nearby population centres of Edgcumbe Beach, Cowrie Point and Crayfish Creek.

If the development application is passed, it is expected that the construction of the wind farm will commence in January.

The capital cost of the project will be in the order of $50 million, Mr Fulton said, with anticipated flow-on effects to the local community through the use of local contractors and facilities.

More information about the project is available at www.portlattawindfarm.com.au. A community information session on the project will be held at the Rock Cape Tavern on Wednesday April 4, 7.30pm. For more information phone Paul Fulton on 0439 338 288 or email portlattawindfarm@joulelogic.com.au.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/04/03/wind-farm-proposal/