Wind Power News: Australia
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
Queensland windfarm backed by Apple and Andrew Forrest sparks warning over impact on threatened species
A proposed $1bn windfarm in north Queensland – backed by Apple and majority-owned by billionaire Andrew Forrest – would have unavoidable and significant impacts on four threatened species, including koalas and greater gliders, according to the project developer’s own environment report. Developer, Windlab, wants to put 80 turbines and 150km of tracks on a site inland from Ingham to build the Upper Burdekin windfarm, 4.8km from the boundary of the Wet Tropics world heritage area. The government authority that manages . . . Complete story »
Bank refuses mortgage for tree changers because of wind farm caveat
When Nicole Fagan and her husband found the perfect tree-change* home in Kununurra in January, they had no idea that the wind farm that will take in their rural NSW property was going to be a problem for their bank. “We needed to access a small amount of equity in our home (a mere 12 per cent) for a home in the Kimberley,” Nicole Fagan tells RenewEconomy. “Suncorp Bank, where I have done all of my banking for years, decided . . . Complete story »
Public pressure yields results in wind turbine saga
A community information session and protest have reportedly yielded results as community members rally against a possible wind turbine development in the Boomanoomana area. Two weeks after raising concerns at a community meeting attended by 70 residents, a protest rally against Windlab’s proposed wind farm development was held Wednesday last week. It resulted in proponents of the wind farm meeting with residents on Thursday. Berrigan resident Carly Marriott said she was optimistic, following that meeting, that there would be more . . . Complete story »
Giant wind farm appeals order for turbine shutdowns as opponents fight approval
The developers of a 900MW wind farm in north-west Tasmania have appealed the Environment Protection Authority ruling that its turbines must shut down for a total of five months of each year, saying the extraordinary condition renders the project unviable. Acen Australia on Tuesday lodged an appeal in the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, according to an ABC News report, at the same time as two separate appeals were also lodged against the EPA’s conditional approval of the project. The . . . Complete story »
Residents take wind farm fight to Supreme Court
Wind energy generators are not on trial, lawyers representing a community group opposing a wind farm in coal country say. Battle lines were drawn on the maps of Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, as residents challenged in the Supreme Court the proximity of the proposed site. “This isn’t a case where wind energy facilities are on trial,” Strezlecki Community Alliance’s counsel Paul Connor told the court on Thursday. “They’re important assets for our state in terms of providing renewable energy, but they . . . Complete story »
Wind turbine fire in Sleaford
CFS [South Australia Country Fire Service] were called to a wind turbine fire in Sleaford [“Cathedral Rocks” wind energy facility], west of Port Lincoln on the State’s Eyre Peninsula at approximately 10.00pm yesterday evening. 3 CFS trucks and command crews supported by SAPOL have attended the private property where a wind turbine was already well involved in fire. The motor of the wind turbine is believed to have been the ignition point of the fire, with two blades also burning. . . . Complete story »
Fight for no-wind position: Tablelands residents in battle to stop project
The fate of a controversial clean energy project on the Atherton Tablelands now hinges on federal approval after getting a green light from the state government, but a core group of concerned locals has not given up the fight. More than a thousand submissions have been made by residents protesting the proposed wind farm fringing a declared Wet Tropics World Heritage Area, 15km from Ravenshoe. Ark Energy, a subsidiary of Epuron, plans to build the Chalumbin Wind Farm which received . . . Complete story »
NSW Rural Fire Service crews contain blaze at Southern Tablelands turbine station
Emergency services have contained a fire at a wind turbine in the NSW Southern Tablelands. The turbine on a rural property at Breadalbane, near Goulburn, started at about six o’clock this morning. Rural Fire Services spokesman Greg Allan said about 20 firefighters in six trucks responded to the fire. “They were on scene to make sure no fires were sparked from the fire within the structure itself,” Mr Allan said. “Crews were able to have that fire contained with no . . . Complete story »
Robbins Island wind farm proposal approved on condition of 5-month annual shutdown due to orange-bellied parrots
Philippines-based multinational renewables company ACEN has sought approval to build a wind farm with up to 122 turbines on Robbins Island and a parcel of land called Jim’s Plain, north-west of Smithton. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has granted conditional approval for the project, which has been vehemently opposed by environmentalists and some Circular Head residents. The proposed site of the farm is a migration area for the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. EPA director Wes Ford said the board thoroughly . . . Complete story »
Power line placement for new wind farm near Biloela will impact cropping operations, farmers sa
When farmer Laurie Brosnan stands in his paddocks and looks up, instead of clear blue skies he sees a tapestry of powerlines laced through hulking steel transmission towers that is set to expand. On the outskirts of Biloela, south of Rockhampton in central Queensland, energy provider Powerlink is preparing to connect the region’s new wind farm to the grid. The preferred transmission tower corridor for the Banana Range Wind Farm project runs through Mr Bosnan’s prime cropping land. He and . . . Complete story »
