Wind farms in New South Wales

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I intend that this section will replace the section on Wind farms by region.

The wind farm is composed of three clusters of turbines. From the PEA:

"Adjungbilly Cluster is located approximately 26km east of the Gundagai and approximately 30km north-east of Tumut whereas the Stockdale Cluster is located approximately 22km north-east of Gundagai and approximately 17.5km south of Jugiong. The turbines of the Adjungbilly Cluster extend over a series of north-south facing ridgelines whereas the Stockdale Cluster extends across a single east-west ridgeline. All turbines are located on land ranging from approximately 481m to 799m Australian Height Datum (AHD)."

Location Map credit Wind Prospect

It will be about 25km north of Yass and 80km north of Canberra.

There is a Net page 'under construction' at http://bangowindfarm.com.au/.

If the farm is ever built the turbines will run along several ridges from Ben Lomond.

Location of Birrema and Carroll's Ridge wind farms
Map credit Epuron

Epuron submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment to the NSW Government Planning and Infrastructure Department for this project in July 2010. Newsletters are available from the Epuron Net site. Epuron's Net site gives the status of this wind farm as "Development commenced".

From the PEA, "The proposed Birrema Wind Farm is to be located on the boundary of the Southern Tablelands and South Western Slopes regions of NSW, 30km west of Yass, and approximately 300km SW of Sydney. The site is in the vicinity of a number of proposed wind farms".

I was unable to find a Net page for either company, nor for the project; AEMO does not mention this wind farm on its list of proposed generators.

Boco Rock Wind Farm

The Cooma-Monaro Express published an article on 2012/02/02 stating that construction was to start in the third quarter of this year.

Wind Prospect state on their Net site that the farm is to be 10km SW of Nimmitabel and 30km north of Bombala and that construction is expected to be completed by mid 2013. Quoting from Wind Prospect's Net pages

"Our proposal now comprises of a wind farm with two potential design layouts; one consisting of 104 wind turbines and the other 122 wind turbines spread over 17 different properties. The difference in number is with respect to the relative size of the wind turbines being considered for the project, with those under consideration ranging in tower height from 80 to 100 metres with blade lengths of 44 to 52 metres."

Location Map credit Infigen

It is planned to be about 15km north-east of Wellington and around 40km south-east of Dubbo at the closest point.

The wind farm will be located on land at elevations of between 400m and 740m.

Infigen seems not to have a Net site about the project; as of 2011/12/10 the news is, no news.

The wind farm is mostly between Tarago and Lake George, and about 50km SSW of Goulburn; the location is shown on the Goulburn area map. My information, of which I cannot be sure, is that they will be in three groups: at Groses Hill east of Lake George (about Lat. S 35.06°, Long. E 149.51°) in the Hammonds Hill-Ellendon area (about Lat. S 35.17°, Long. E 149.50°), and a few in the Boro area, SSW of Tarago (about Lat. S 35.19°, Long. E 149.63°). There is a map on this page, in the section on the adjacent Woodlawn Wind Farm.

An interactive map showing its location and giving directions on how to get there is available on ExplorOz.

In May 2008 the NSW Government announced that power from this wind farm would be used to run the proposed Kurnell (Sydney) desalination plant. Infigen managing director Miles George said the desalination plant would use 40MW of electricity when it began operating this summer, and that any left over power generated by the wind farm would go into the national electricity grid.

Location Map from Infigen's PEA

The following information was extracted from the PEA.

The land to be used is about 700 hectares and belongs to five landowners. The majority of the land has been cleared, but a small number of isolated patches of native vegetation remain. The PEA stated that "Construction of the turbines and roads will not require any tree clearing".

The PEA did not seem to state minimum distances between turbines and houses. It said in several places that the wind farm was to be about 17km from Bungendore; this is apparently the distance to the centre of the wind farm, at the closest point it comes within about six kilometres of the township.

Infigen expected to lodge the Project Application in September 2010, and commission the wind farm about July 2012.

On 2011/11/04 ABC online news announced that the NSW Planning Assessment Commission had approved Capital 2 Wind Farm. "David Griffin from Infigen Energy says the expansion will be part of a proposed renewable energy precinct including a 50 megawatt solar farm, which was approved in December 2010". If built, this project will use the same connection point to the power grid as Bungendore and Woodlawn.

From the PEA:

"The surrounding area is undulating with some steeper slopes around incised valleys. Capital II Wind Farm is bordered by Western Leg Road to the east and Lake George to the west. At approximately 2500 people, the Bungendore township is the closest significant population centre to the site, and the city of Canberra is located approximately 40km to the south-west."

Location of Birrema and Carroll's Ridge wind farms
Map credit Epuron

Epuron have proposed this wind farm, but few details are given.

Collector Wind Farm
Sometimes called Lerida Wind Farm

Map credit Transfield

It is proposed that the farm will be 30km SW of Goulburn and it is expected to cost around $400 million. Transfield said that the site was chosen for the reasons below:

• It has an excellent wind resource;
• There are few residences in close proximity to the site;
• The site is traversed by the electricity grid, limiting the length of transmission line required;
• Preliminary environmental studies indicate a low impact on the environment; and
• Community support for renewable energy developments in the region.

Wind data has been collected over several years from two wind monitoring towers.

Transfield intended to produce regular newsletters on the progress of the project; some of the information on this page is from their first newsletter. The area is within the district of the Upper Lachlan Shire Council. A 'community Open House' to inform people of the project, was held on October 14th at the Collector Memorial Hall.

Over the six months from September 2010 Transfield were studying: flora and fauna, noise and visual impacts, cultural heritage implications, traffic, aeronautical and telecommunications implications.

The wind farm operators are apparently Great Southern Energy, Pacific Power and Eraring Energy (full URL "http://www.eraring-energy.com.au/Default.aspx?aCateId=796" for Eraring's wind farms). Argyle County has a page on the wind farm, from which much of this information came; also

The proposer was a consortium of TME Australia, since taken over by Union Fenosa, and Gamesa Energy Australia P.L. Much of the information for this section came from TME's Net page, which is no longer available. As of October 2010 Union Fenosa seem not to have made any up-to-date information available and Gamesa's on-line inquiry form was unworkable.

Location Map credit Wind Prospect

The project "is located approximately 45km south of Mudgee and 45km north of Bathurst. The turbines extend over a 16 km span along the Crudine Ridge, south west from Aarons Pass Rd. The individual turbine positions are located on land with elevations ranging from approximately 890m to 1 000m Australian Height Datum (AHD)."

Wind Prospect seem to not yet have a Net site for this project.

Approval was given by the state Planning Minister in late February 2007 and preliminary construction works commenced at the end of January 2008 around the time that Origin Energy acquired the development rights from Epuron.

Both Origin and Epuron have Net pages on this wind farm (neither of which is very informative).

A development application has been lodged with the Bega Council. Epuron have given the following contacts for inquiries:

• Martin Poole, Director; 0411 159 114
• Daniel Gilbert, Project Manager 0411 758 225

Infigen Energy are trying to include one community owned turbine in this wind farm. On 2011/10/26 the Blayney Chronicle carried an article stating that Shire residents were being invited to give feedback on the proposed wind farm, the environmental assessment for which is on public display.

The number of turbines was reduced from 26 to 25 turbines about August 2010 following an agreement between the proponents and the local Landscape Guardians group.

There is a map showing the location of this wind farm in the section on White Rock Wind Farm.

Location map Map credit Wind Prospect

The turbines will be around the township of Golspie, to the northeast of Crookwell and about 50km north of Goulburn.

Wind Prospect has a Net site for the project. The Net site seems to be quite active and informative. It states that the first Public Open Day is expected to be in early 2012.

ABC online news reported (2007/11/14) that this windfarm, to be built on 14 properties along a ridge-line between Goulburn and Crookwell, was proposed by Epuron, who have a not very informative and very out-of-date Net page on the project. The properties are at Kialla, Bannister, Pomeroy and Gurrundah. The location is shown on the Goulburn area map.

The Crookwell Gazette (2011/02/23) ran an article anouncing an agreement Epuron made with Goldwind Australia for the latter to supply the turbines for the project (it seems they will be made in China). Goldwind was founded in 1998 and established in Sydney in 2009.

ABC reported that the turbine towers would be 85m high with blades nearly 47m long.

It was announced on 3rd July 2009 that planning approval had been given by Planning Minister Kristina Keneally. At the same time it was mentioned that there were to be 73 turbines.

Hampton Park Wind Farm

The turbines are to be in two areas, Mountain Station is about latitude S 32.07° and longitude E 150.74° (31 turbines, and Middlebrook Station is about latitude S 31.95° and longitude E 150.78° (3 turbines).

This is a particularly interesting and unusual project because beyond the wind turbines it is to include from 3 to 10MW of solar (photovoltaic) collectors and a closed-loop mini hydro-electric plant. Pamada hopes that the project will have a total generating capacity of 137MW.

ABC On-line news reported on 2010/02/10 that the NSW Planning Minister had approved the project.

The Development and Environmental Services Committee of the Upper Hunter Shire Council has heard the company has been carrying out investigations in the area for almost two years.

"Using the elevated ridges that run north-south in the general area of Coolah," Epuron project manager, Simon Davey said. "We believe that the wind speeds and the data indicates that there is a very good and strong, consistent wind resource in the area that we are quite excited about."

Early estimates are that the project could involve the establishment of 200 turbines and up-to-50 kilometres of transmission lines to connect the operation to the electricity grid. Epuron already has one windfarm operating at Cullerin, near Goulburn, and has approval for four others across NSW. It is currently awaiting a decision from Planning Minister, Tony Kelly, on whether the Liverpool Range project will be considered a Part 3A major development. The company expects to lodge Environment Assessments for the project next year. "We have reached the point where we wish to take that proposal forward and we will be looking to submit a project application in the coming year or so" Mr Davey said.

Much of the above information was extracted from ABC News On-line. Coolah is about 74km south-east of Coonabarabran.

The Net site states that a pre-feasibility study has been completed "and has confirmed that there is very strong support for the establishment of a community wind farm". It is expected that around $30m capital will be required, and if built it looks like being the biggest community owned wind farm in Australia.

I would like to provide a location, but was unable to see one on the Net pages, nor was I able to find anywhere to direct an inquiry.

Location Map credit Tract Consultants and Union Fenosa

Tract Consultants PL submitted a Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA) to the NSW Government Planning and Infrastructure Department on behalf of Union Fenosa Wind Australia for this project in April 2010.

The turbines will be built on both sides of the Goulburn to Oberon Road, 45km south of Oberon, 30km north of Taralga, and 70km north of Goulburn.

ABC Online news, May 24, 2010 carried the following: "A development application for the $275 million wind farm at Paling Yards has been lodged with the Department of Planning".

I have had little, if any, success in getting responses to my questions to UFWA concerning any of their wind farms. Readers can try info@unionfenosa.com.au. Some of the information in this section came from UFWA's newsletter of May 2011. That newsletter included a larger scale map of the outline of the proposed wind farm.

The Project Area is located near between Rugby and Boorowa and is approximately 40km north of Yass and 220km south-west of Sydney. Preliminary investigations have indicated that about 20 dwellings are located in the vicinity of the proposed turbine locations.

The topography of the Project area is characterised by a series of rolling hills forming a number of gentle ridgelines suitable for turbine placement. A large proportion of the Project Area, especially along the ridges, is covered with native vegetation, mostly dry sclerophyll forest.

Location map Map credit Epuron

Epuron has a Net page on the project. It stated that the project "is currently under detailed development in preparation for the submission of its Environmental Assessment to the NSW Government in 2012."

The project manager, Simon Davey, said the area will take in around 40 properties and that Epuron has been monitoring wind speeds in the Yass area for more than ten years and at Rye Park since 2008.

Some of the data of this page came from an article posted by ABC Central West NSW on-line news, 2011/02/23, and some from Epuron's Preliminary Environmental Assessment dated January 2011.

The wind farm will border the Glen Innes to Inverel road on the north, from about 15km to 30km west of Glen Innes. There is a map showing the location of this wind farm in the section on White Rock Wind Farm.

ABC New England North West News 2011/11/24 mentioned that an environmental assessment for the wind farm will go on public exhibition on that day.

Wind Farm Development had or have some involvement in this farm; they have a Net page on the project. The majority owner is Epuron, who have a Net site here. (On 2012/01/29 there was very little information on Epuron's Net site.)

The project received approval from the NSW state government in early June 2009. This was announced by Premier Nathan Rees in Parliament about 3rd June.

Ownership of this wind farm has changed several times. As of October 2008 it is owned by three companies: a Portuguese company called Martifer owns 25%, Macquarie Capital Group Ltd owns 25%, the remaining 50% is owned by Epuron, a company of the European Conergy Group. In December 2011 it was reported that AGL is taking an interest.

It has been stated that in a typical year the wind farm will be able to contribute up to 4.5% of the total energy needs of NSW (Australia's most populous state), but the actual figure will of course depend on the final size of the project.

The city of Broken Hill is, in many ways, by default a part of South Australia even though it is geographically in New South Wales. The fact is that it is much closer to Adelaide than to Sydney (420km and 940km respectively, as the crow flies). It's radio and TV programs come from South Australia, and it is closer to the population centres of South Australia than to those of NSW (300km from Jamestown, SA; 670km from Dubbo, NSW). The ores from its famous mines have always been railed to South Australia for smelting and/or shipping. So the Broken Hill Wind Farm is of especial interest to me, a South Australian.

On the information available to me when I first wrote this section, Silverton seemed an odd choice of site; the Wind Resource Map of Australia and the NSW wind resource map both indicate that Broken Hill is not particularly windy; both show it as less windy than most of the highlands along the eastern coast and the Australia map shows the area as much less windy than many areas of WA, SA, and southern Victoria. Also there is not a big local market for the power, Broken Hill has a population of around 20 000 and not a huge amount of industry; it could not possibly use all the power from such a big wind farm and there are no high capacity transmission lines near the city.

These apparent difficulties were largely explained by Andrew Durren of Epuron/Taurus Energy on 2009/01/05 who stated:

• Mesoscale wind resource maps are unreliable and the wind resource at Silverton is better than indicated on the Wind Resource Map of Australia;
• An initial powerline will connect the farm with Broken Hill (approximately 25km) and a second powerline will suppliment this by connecting to [a high capacity transmission line in] Red Cliffs in Victoria (approximately 300km).

This project was approved by the local council several years ago, but Origin has decided to not go ahead with it. Lucy Morrell wrote an article on the cancellation of the wind farm in the Jindabyne Summit Sun newspaper on 2010/12/02. Origin representatives said that wind measurements were too low and that "the wind farm did not meet the company's requirements on a number of fronts".

The location, on ridges east of Taralga, is shown on the Goulburn area map. RES state that the closest turbine to Taralga will be more than 3km away, while most will be 5km or more.

International Business Times announced that Taralga would be the first joint venture between CBD Energy Ltd and China Datang Corp (2011/04/18).

On 2011/10/07 Climate Spectator carried an article saying that CBD had secured a power purchase agreement for Taralga ($90/MWh) in connection with its take-over of Victoria-based Neighbourhood Energy from Alinta Energy.

Location Map credit Wind Prospect

The wind farm will be about 15km west of Wellington and 70km ESE of Dubbo. It will be spread over quite a large area between Wellington and Gulgong.

It seems that Wind Prospect do not yet have a Net page on this project.

Location map Map credit Epuron

As of 2012/01/29 there is very little information on Epuron's White Rock WF Net site.

The wind farm will be about 20km SW of Glen Innes and 40km ESE of Inverell.

Epuron state in their PA that:

"[The site] has been selected for its windy ridges and cleared grazing land. The majority of land in the region is currently used for commercial agriculture (sheep and cattle grazing) and has been cleared and grazed over many decades.
The ridges most likely to contain turbines are generally clear on the tops with varying density of vegetation across the lower slopes."

Epuron's Planning Application, dated September 2010, stated that there would be 80 to 100 turbines. This has been changed to 119 turbines as specified in a pdf file forwarded to the Dept. of Planning on 2011/05/11.

Until a wind farm gets at least to the point where an application for approval has been submitted to the relevant authority it may be little more than wishfull thinking and is not worth covering in more detail than that below. Some of the projects listed below are in this table simply because there is very little information available on them.

Wind farms that have been proposed in NSW

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