These laws make it harder to build a wind farm in Victoria than to start a coal mine, extract coal-seam gas, or build a fossil-fuel-fired power station. Victorians do not have any right to veto new power lines, highways, coal mines or any other industrial or mining developments within similar distances of their homes. This seems to be a law enacted by a government that wants to stop wind power development and support the existing fossil-fuel power industry.

Friends of the Earth Victoria spokesman, Cam Walker, estimated that the new laws have stalled or prevented teh development of planned wind farms worth up to $955 million. He said that at least nine farms promising up to 580 construction and 57 permanent jobs were affected.

Hepburn Wind published this revealing comment:

"all five community wind proposals that we are aware of fall within these new [no-go] zones. Somewhat ironically, all six of Victoria's coal fired powered stations are located in so called no-go zones."

Detail of the changes to the laws is available here.

Extract from 'VC82 Explanatory Report.pdf'; the land below may not have a wind farm built on it:

• all land covered by the Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Ranges planning schemes
• land described as the Bellarine Peninsula, being the area that is covered by the Queenscliffe planning scheme and that part of the Greater Geelong planning scheme east of the Surf Coast Highway and south of the Princes Highway
• land described as the Great Ocean Road region, being land within five kilometres of the high water mark of the coast between the Surf Coast Highway in the east and Warrnambool in the west in the Warrnambool, Moyne, Corangamite, Colac Otway, Surf Coast and Greater Geelong planning schemes
• land in the Macedon and McHarg Ranges, being all land covered by the Macedon Ranges planning scheme, all land west of the Hume Freeway and the Goulburn Valley Highway in the Mitchell planning scheme, and all land bounded by the McIvor Highway and the Calder Highway/Freeway in the Greater Bendigo and Mount Alexander planning schemes
• land within five kilometres of the high water mark of the coast in the Bass Coast planning scheme and South Gippsland planning scheme west of Wilsons Promontory
• land within five kilometres of major regional cities and regional centres specified in the Regional Victoria Settlement Framework in the State Planning Policy Framework being Mildura, Swan Hill, Echuca, Shepparton, Benalla, Wangaratta, Wodonga, Horsham, Ararat, Ballarat, Greater Bendigo, Hamilton, Portland, Warrnambool, Colac, Geelong, Moe, Morwell, Traralgon, Sale and Bairnsdale (the prohibition in these locations does not apply to a Wind energy facility integrated as part of the development of the land where the land is in a residential zone, industrial zone, business zone or special purpose zone).

These new laws will make it very difficult for any new wind farm to be built in Victoria. It would be reasonable for people in quiet country areas who are to have wind turbines built within 2 km of them to have some say in the matter, or to receive some financial compensation, depending on the level of sound that they may be subject to.

People have no right to veto the building of a nearby highway; is it right to give them the power of vetoing the building of a wind turbine at a time when the world is in dire need of more renewable energy to combat climate change? If this law is to remain in force there is at least a need for the wind farm proposer to have some sort of a right to appeal unreasonable demands by home owners.

Wind power generation in Victoria Only those farms whose generation data are given by AEMO Data up to the end of December 2011

The AEMO data is not clear about exactly what is included in 'Portland'. It seems to include only Cape Bridgewater and Cape Nelson South wind farms. At some times and in some places Codrington and Yambuk (also Pacific Hydro and nearby) are included in 'The Portland Wind Project'.

Alternatively see the Wind farm by region section or Ben Courtrice's excellent page on Google Maps.

Wind farms in Victoria

Wind farm location from RES's news letter

This RES project is close to another wind farm, proposed by Pacific Hydro, at Crowlands.

RES has a page on the proposal; a newsletter is also available from this page. The project received approval from the Minister on 2010/10/22.

I emailed RES at info-australia@res-ltd.com on 2010/11/18 and received a reply from 'Chris'. Among other things he/she informed me that "the grid line currently being progressed" at the Ararat wind farm.

Baynton Wind Farm

The wind farm will be in the vicinity of Baynton, Glenhope, Glenhope East, and Baynton East on the map. Map credit Transfield

Transfield have said that "Initial studies suggest that the site is well suited for the development of a wind farm. Wind speeds in the area ideal for harnessing this renewable energy source."

Transfield intended to produce regular newsletters on the progress of the project; some of the information on this page is from their first newsletter. A 'community Open House' to inform people of the project, was held on October 28th 2010 at the Tooborac Hall.

The wind farm site straddles the boundary between Mitchell and Macedon Ranges Shire Councils.

The wind farm will be in the vicinity of the 'D' of DIVIDING on the map, and north of it. Map credit Transfield

It is proposed that this farm will be about five kilometres south of Amphitheatre, nine kilometres NW of Lexton and 50km NW of Ballarat and it is expected to cost around $250 million.

Transfield have produced a booklet and intend to produce regular newsletters on the progress of the project; most of the information on this page is from these sources.

The area is within the district of the Pyrenees Shire Council. A 'community Open House' to inform people of the project, was held on August 12th, 2010 at the Amphitheatre Community Hall.

Transfield say that "the land on which the Ben More Wind Farm would be developed is privately-owned farmland used primarily for sheep grazing. The site has been chosen for the following reasons:

• It has an excellent wind resource
• There are few residences in close proximity to the site
• The site is close to a the electricity grid, reducing the length of the transmission line
• Preliminary environmental studies indicate a low impact on the environment
• Support for the development from local communities

Wind data have been collected from two wind monitoring towers for several years.

Over the six months up to October 2010 Transfield studied: flora and fauna, noise and visual impacts, cultural heritage implications, traffic, aeronautical and telecommunications implications.

Transfield hope to receive approval for the project by late 2011.

Transfield Services' Project Manager for Ben More is Nick Valentine, his phone number is (02) 9963 9924 and email is valentinen@transfieldservices.com.

Berrybank is about 15km east of Lismore, ten kilometres west of Cressy and 40km north of Colac; the wind farm will be close on the eastern side of Berrybank. UFWA has a map of the proposed wind farm in its newsletter of October 2009.

UFWA has estimated that "up to 240 full-time jobs will be created during the 12 to 14 month construction period" and "up to 25 full-time permanent staff for the lifespan of the project".

Cape Nelson Wind Farm

Cape Nelson Wind Farm is devided into a north and a south section.

Community funding

Chepstowe Wind Farm

Victoria's Planning Minister announced that he had aproved the project on 2011/05/18.

The information above was extracted from an article by Emily Sobey in the Ballarat Courier on 2010/02/21. Quoting the article:

"Pyrenees Shire Mayor David Clark said a few local residents were concerned about the Chepstowe proposal but council's initial view was that it was a "very simple" proposal. "The landholder's property is a kilometre away and there are no other properties within 2km," Cr Clark said. "It's a very small development, nowhere near the infrastructure (of other wind farms). You have three turbines right beside a normal powerline so there are no sub-stations."

Community funding

The Ararat Advertiser carried an article on 2010/08/20 stating that "Planning Minister Justin Madden this week granted planning permits for the proposed Crowlands Wind Farm".

ABC on-line news, Ballarat, quoted Pyrenees Mayer David Clark as saying that "it will be up to five years before the project is completed" (2010/09/23).

The developer is Wind Farm Developments who have a Net site on the wind farm.

The wind farm is to be 3km north of Purnim, which is about 17km NE of Warrnambool and 220km SSE of Melbourne.

Much of the data below was from Dept. Primary Industry, Victoria.

Most of the information for this wind farm came from a report available via TME Aust.'s Projects page. It was dated September 2006.

The area has been substantially cleared and is currently used for grazing. The site is generally bound by the Woolsthorpe-Heywood Road and the Penshurst-Warrnambool Road. It is dissected by a disused rail reserve in the eastern part.

The proposer is WestWind, from whose Internet pages (especially 'http://www.w-wind.com.au/html/LLPOverview.htm', which is no longer available) most of this information came.

Westwind has a planning permit for the wind farm. On 2011/12/11 Westwind's Net pages gave the latest news was an application to amend the planning permit lodged on 2011/01/21. On 2011/11/15 the Melton-Leader online news reported that Lal Lal would proceed unchanged after the amendment application was rejected by the state government. The modification would have increased the tip height from 130m to 150m and increase generation by 50%.

Older stuff

West Wind had an office in Buninyong until 4th June 2009, they then moved it to Mt Helen.

The Moorabool Leader on-line news reported, on 24th June 2008, that six of the proposed turbines will be relocated due to discovery of Aboriginal artifacts.

West Wind Energy representative Adam Gray said on Feb. 17th 2009 that he did not feel that financing the project would be a problem.

Both turbines were raised in March 2011. Hepburn announced that power started flowing from their turbines to the power grid on 10.20am of 2011/06/22.

Lexton Wind Farm location Acknowledgment Wind Power

Much of the data here was from Dept. Primary Industry Victoria, and "http://www.wind-power.com.au/Projects/Lexton/index.asp" (which as of 2011/12/11 redirects to Stockyard Hill) and ABARE.

As of 2011/12/11 there seems to have been no activity on this project for several years.

Macarthur is 33km south of Hamilton and about 270km west of Melbourne; the wind farm will be 12 to 15km east of Macarthur.

Update, 2011/12/12 From Jeff Trompf, AGL Project Manager Power Development 50% through construction. First of 140 wind turbines installed. First power to grid will be third quarter 2012. Completion due first quarter 2013. Earlier update from JT, 2011/06/23 In excess of 120 personnel on site. One quarter of site roads completed. Road upgrades external to project underway. Tower section deliveries about to commence. V112 blades being manufactured in Germany.

AGL released a newsletter in March 2011. Work underway, according to the newsletter, was:

• A second concrete batching plant under construction;
• An onsite crusher being commissioned;
• Roads and hardstands under construction;
• Foundation preparation under way.

On 1st November 2010 the Portland Weekly Times reported that Keppel Prince had been awarded the contract for building the turbine towers. (Although the Stock Journal carried an article in early August 2011 stating that at least some of the towers are being manufactured by RPG Australia in suburban Adelaide.)

Location of Mortlake wind farms Map credit Acciona

Acciona has a page from which newsletters on all their Australian wind farms can be downloaded: "http://www.acciona.com.au/community/ newslettersAndUpcomingEvents/index.php" (no spaces in URL). They have a dedicated Community Liaison Co-ordinator for Mortlake; Tracey Ward can be contacted on 1800 283 550 or mortlake@acciona.com.au

Mortlake is 42km NE of Warrnambool. There are two sections to the proposed wind farm; Acciona calls them Mortlake East (about 9.5km east of Mortlake) and Mortlake South (about 5km south of Mortlake); see the map on the right.

Acciona received approval for the South section of the proposed wind farm, Mortlake South Wind Farm, in October 2010.

Community funding

The Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) has requested further studies to be undertaken at Mortlake East. Specifically, the DSE is seeking further information about Brolga nesting sites in the area with a view to better defining buffer zones around breeding sites in particular.

Goldwind have a Net page on the project.

Recharge ("the global source for renewable energy news") announced on 2011/12/14 that construction began "in October, with turbine installation due in the first half of next year".

This proposed wind farm will be in the vicinity of Mount Gellibrand, 22km NE of Colac, 16km west of Winchelsea and about 110km SSW of Melbourne. It was given initial planning approval by the Victorian Minister for Planning, Rob Hulls, on August 20th, 2006.

Acciona announced on 2011/06/22 that it had lodged another Development Plan for this wind farm to the Victorian Government. On 2012/01/25 Acciona announced that final approval had been received and that construction would begin on March 15. Acciona has a Net page on the project.

Reported in The Warrnambool Standard, 2012/01/26:

Acciona Energy generation director Brett Wickham said the farm would create about 200 jobs during construction and 16 ongoing positions once it was operational. He said up to 10 of the 149-metre turbines would be built within two kilometres of homes and could have been affected if the plant had been proposed under the new planning regime. "The project would have been less viable because these projects are marginal and essentially we could have less turbines to pay off what is a significant investment in (power) grid connection and other things," Mr Wickham said.

The project has changed hands twice. Acciona, the current owner, has an email address for inquiries: gellibrand@acciona.com.au.

Meridian Energy, a NZ company, and West Wind Energy are the proponents for this project; there is a Net page (which as of May 2011 showed no sign of recent updating).

The Ballarat Courier carried an article by Neelima Choahan on 2011/05/27 about the granting of permission from the state government for building an electicity substation. This is the only recent sign of activity on this project that I have come across.

The Ballarat Courier, 2009/03/09, quoted West Wind Energy general manager Tobias Geiger as saying that the Mount Mercer Wind Farm had been delayed waiting for the Rudd Government to write its promised Mandatory Renewable Energy Target into law.

Some of the data below was from Dept. Primary Industry, Victoria. There is a Net site by Wind Farm Developments.

As of 2011/12/11 there seems to have been no activity on this project for several years.

The planning permit for the Newfield Wind Farm was granted in August 2008 and an extension was granted by Corangamite Shire extending the original permit to 2012/03/15 (and expiring on 2014/03/15). David Clarke, Senior Manager, Stakeholder and Community Relations with Acciona Energy, also said (pers. com) "ACCIONA Energy has undertaken extensive work and commissioned numerous studies and engaged in consultation with relevant authorities over the past six months in order to prepare the Development Plan. ACCIONA Energy submitted a Development Plan for the Newfield Wind Farm to Corangamite Shire in June 2011. It is anticipated that the Development Plan will be approved by the end of 2011."

Suzlon S88 2.1MW turbines are being used and the estimated capital cost of the project is Aus$200m.

ABC On-line news reported on 12th March 2010 that "The State Government fast tracked [the wind farm] last year because it will be used to offset the emissions of the new desalination plant in Wonthaggi."

Portland Wind Energy Project

Pacific Hydro say that this "project will produce enough clean electricity to power about 125 000 homes... That's equal to more than 7% of Victoria's residential electricity demand or powering a city the size of Geelong."

Generation record Up to the end of 2011

Generation record for Portland

Map from Future Energy PL

It is proposed that the farm will be just to the north of the Western Highway, six kilometres NE of Ballan and about 37km east of Ballarat.

The planning application was lodged in January 2010.

Abandoned!

Sarah Scopelianos wrote an article for the Weekly Times on 2012/01/05 stating that an extension to the wind farm had been approved and that internal road works were expected to start in March (2012), with completion due by the end of 2014.

Some of the data below was from Dept. Primary Industry, Victoria.

The site is about 10km NE of Kyneton, which is about 60km NE of Ballarat.

Roaring 40s first newsletter states that: "The site is particularly well suited to wind farming because, among other things:

• The area is sparsely populated
  
• The land has been changed and cleared for grazing
  
• The landowners are supportive of the development
  
• Transportation and grid connection options are available."

Roaring 40s has a Net page on the project. Their home page is http://www.roaring40s.com.au/. They released a newsletter on this project in August 2008; this reported that they intend to submit their planning application in late September and that they expect a determination by the Minister in early 2009.

Sisters Wind Farm

As of 2011/12/11 there seems to have been little activity on this project for several years.

Moyne Shire Council declined planning permission and Wind Farm Developments has appealed the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) (sources close to the project, 2009/08/20).

The Leongatha Southern Star carried an article on the proposal on 2010/11/16. According to the article the site is bordered by Lynnes, Kirrak and Shepherd roads. Bass Coast Council planning director Hannah Duncan-Jones, said council officers had met with Synergy Wind representatives ahead of them lodging a planning application. She said Synergy Wind had committed to running workshops to tell the community about the wind farm. These will be held early next year.

From Wind Power's July 2008 newsletter Note that the number of turbines has since been changed.

The Ballarat Courier carried an article on 2010/10/30 stating that the project received approval by Victorian Planning Minister Justin Madden on 2010/10/29. 242 turbines had been proposed, but the approval cut this back to 157 because of assessed impact on wildlife and neighbouring houses.

If this project goes ahead in the near future it will be the biggest wind farm in Australia and probably in the Southern Hemesphere.

ABC online news, Oct. 14 2008, reported that the Planning Minister had decided that an environmental impact statement would not be required for this project. Wind Power's Ross Richards said "the Government has recognised that the company has already done the studies normally required under an EES".

Anti-wind farm group Western Plains Landscape Guardians spokeswoman Cassie Franzose said that health issues had not been taken into account and that the project would make the area unlivable.

Union Fenosa seem not to have said what size turbines will be involved, but judging from other recent projects they will probably be from 2.1 to 3 MW.

Waubra North Wind Farm

ABC on-line News announced on 2011/05/25 that Acciona had abandoned the project due to "a lack of wind to power the turbines".

Winchelsea Wind Farm

Also known as Inverleigh Wind Farm

It is proposed that this wind farm will be on Mt Pollock and 10km north-east of Winchelsea and about the same distane SE of Inverleigh; both of which are near Geelong. The towers are expected to be 80m high, the blades 35m to 29m in length and the farm is expected to generate around 85GWh of electricity each year.

Much of this information came from International Power's Net site. There is also some information on Future Energy's news page.

An example wind power generation graph, this one for August 2007, from Wonthaggi, Victoria. Acknowledgement Wind Power

Visiting Wonthaggi Wind Farm

As of 2011/12/11 there seems to have been no activity on this project for several years.

An anmometry mast was erected in July 2002 and the Minister for Planning approved the farm in April 2008.

This Pacific Hydro project was originally for "70 wind turbines and was refused by Minister Hulls in July 2005 due to the potential impact of the development on the Wedge-tailed Eagle population and, to a lesser extent, visual amenity in the Parwan Valley."

This project was approved by the Victorian Government in late October 2010.

Yambuk Wind Farm

Yambuk Wind Farm

Visiting Yambuk

Generation record Up to the end of 2011

Generation record for Yambuk

I calculated, from AEMO/ALG data, that 73GWh were generated in 2009.


Further Yambuk data from Pacific Hydro...

Annual production	Greater than 90GWh expected
Average annual wind speed	8.3m/sec. (30km/hr)
Wind generators	Neg Micon
Project cost	Contradictory data, either Aus$50 or $76 million
Greenhouse gas saving	Estimated at up to 130 000 tonnes CO2 p.a.

Wind home Top Vic wind farms Index

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.

Wind farms that have been proposed in Victoria

Index