Specific Victorian wind farms
| |
|
This section added 2018/01/22
|
|
This wind farm has been proposed by Synergy to be built in Wellington Shire.
Alberton is a very small town seven kilometres south of Yarram and 216 km east of Melbourne; the wind farm is to be spread over quite a large area about four kilometres west of Alberton.
Synergy has a
web page on the project.
A Community Fund of $80,000 per year is proposed once the wind farm is operating.
Summary data, Alberton Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date
|
|---|
| Development application lodged | Up to 34 | ? | ? | Undecided
|
Additional data on Wind Farm
| Owner/operator | Synergy
|
|---|
| Expected annual generation | Up to 460 GWh
|
|---|
| Emissions savings | Up to 390,000 tonnes annually
|
|---|
| Total turbine height (to blade tip) | 200 m
|
|---|
| Turbine rotor diameter | 140 m
|
|---|
|
|
| | Wind farm location from RES's news letter
|
|
On 2017/04/16 the
Net page for the wind farm
stated that all 75 turbines were erected and that 73 were generating
electricity.
The developer is RES (Renewable Energy Systems).
The wind farm is about nine kilometres north-east of Ararat.
News 2015/02/09
A power-purchase agreement has been signed between the proposer and the ACT
government, which is aiming to have 90% renewable energy by 2020.
It was announced that the wind farm will be operating by 2017 and
the payment will be $87/MWh.
I believe that only 80.5MW are contracted to the ACT government.
Ararat Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Completed
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 75 | 3.2 | 240
| February 2017 | Approx. S 37.23° | E 142.99°
|
This RES project is close to another wind farm, proposed by Pacific Hydro, at
Crowlands.
It was reported in the Stawell Times, 2013/08/27, that "It is expected
$75 000 will be made available each year through the [community] fund,
which is offered on a voluntary basis by RES Australia for the operational
life of the wind farm, with funding decisions to be made by a local
committee.
| |
| |
Acknowledgement: map from Wind Power
| |
Mitsui and Co. has a
Net page on this wind farm.
The Bald Hills Wind Farm June 2015 newsletter confirmed that the wind farm is
fully operational.
It also stated that "All energy used during manufacturing, shipping and
installation of turbines will be recovered in the first seven months of
operation."
The newsletter stated that "Up to nine people will be perminently employed...".
What is 'up to nine'? Six, seven, eight?
The sight of this proposed wind farm is near Tarwin Lower, 20
kilometres west of Wilsons Promontory and 150 km SE of Melbourne.
This is the wind farm that became famous for being at first blocked by
Liberal
Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell because of a alleged threat
to the endangered orange bellied parrot, and then OKed when it became
apparent that the proposed wind farm posed no threat to the parrot.
Bald Hills summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each
| Total MW
| Completion | Project cost
| Lat.
| Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 52 | 2.05 | 106.6
| Early 2015 | Estimated Aus$250 million
| Approx. S 38.86° | E 146.00°
|
Additional data on Bald Hills
The following changes have been made to minimise the impact of the
wind farm
| Turbine make | Suzlon
|
|---|
| Closest (non-project) residence | 944m from nearest turbine
|
|---|
| Closest turbine to Wetland Reserve | App. 300m
|
|---|
| Closest turbine to Cape Liptrap Coastal Park | 450m
|
|---|
Closest turbine to coast
in vicinity of Cape Liptrap Park | 2000m
|
|---|
Some photos of Bald Hills Wind Farm
Image credits: Blair Donaldson
This wind farm was owned by Transfield Services Infrastructure Trust, but all
their wind power assets were taken over by Ratch Australia Corporation.
|
|
| | The wind farm will be in the vicinity of Baynton, Glenhope,
Glenhope East, and Baynton East on the map.
Map credit Transfield
|
|
It is proposed that the Baynton Wind Farm will be on the hills about
10 km SW of Tooborac, 30 km NE of Kyneton and 40 km east of
Castlemaine, and it is expected to cost around $325 million.
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.
Summary data, Baynton Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat | Long
|
|---|
| Proposed | 50 to 70 | 2 to 3? | 150? | Unknown
| S 37.10° | E 144.70°
|
The number and size of turbines has not been decided
|
|
| | The wind farm will be in the vicinity of the 'D' of
DIVIDING on the map, and north of it.
Map credit Transfield
|
|
This project was owned by Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund, but
their wind power assets were taken over by Ratch Australia Corporation.
It is proposed that this farm will be about five kilometres south of
Amphitheatre, nine kilometres NW of Lexton and 50 km 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
The wind farm would have little impact on farming activities, allowing the
land to remain productive for the long term."
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.
Summary data, Ben More Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat | Long
|
|---|
| Proposed | 50 to 60 | 2 to 3? | About 130 | Unknown
| S 37.24° | E 143.41°
|
The number and size of turbines has not been decided
Further data on Ben More Wind Farm
| Tower height | Up to 90m
|
|---|
| Turbine blade length | Up to 50m
|
|---|
| Greenhouse CO2 abated | About 400 000 tonnes per year
|
|---|
Transfield Services' Project Manager for Ben More is Nick Valentine,
his phone number is (02) 9963 9924 and email is
valentinen@transfieldservices.com.
| |
|
Acciona announced on 2012/11/29 that it was going to submit a fresh planning
application to Buloke Shire for 23 of its new 3MW turbines.
|
|
Acciona Energy has proposed this wind farm 70 km NW of Bendigo
about 16 km west of Wedderburn and 19 km south of Charlton; they
have a
Net page on the project.
Acciona stated that it would comply with Victorian Government requirements
for turbines to be at least two kilometres from residences.
Berrimal Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 23 | 3 | 69
| Undecided | Approx. S 36.53° | E 143.46°
|
The two kilometre requirement applies to wind farms but not to coal mines,
fossil fuel-fired power stations
and other fossil fuel industries and seems to follow
Liberal policy designed to favour the
fossil fuel industry over renewables.
| |
News, April 2019
Union Fenosa
reported that construction had started.
News, September 2018
The Victorian government contracted with Berrybank Wind Farm for 180MW.
|
|
This large wind farm is proposed by Union Fenosa
Wind Australia (UFWA) who have a
Net page
on their projects and have produced several newsletters.
Berrybank is about 15 km east of Lismore, ten kilometres west of Cressy
and 40 km 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".
On 2019/01/14 the Warnambool Standard carried an
article stating that the developer of Berrybank had promised to donate $1.5m for community development between 2019-2021.
The wind farm is to be built in two stages, the first stage will consist of 43 turbines.
Berrybank Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Construction | First stage: 43
Second stage: 36? | 3.7 to 4.2 | 290 to 330 | June 2019
First stage | Sept. 2020
First stage | Approx. S 38.00° | E 143.54°
|
The coordinates above are for Berrybank.
Further data on Berrybank Wind Farm
| Capital cost | Approx. $480m
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas abatement | Estimated at 910 000t CO2/yr
|
|---|
| |
|
This section added 2017/05/14
|
|
This is the first large wind turbine erected in Victoria; it was put up only
a short while after
Salmon Beach Wind Farm at
Esperance in WA, the first wind farm in Australia.
While 60kW (0.06MW) is tiny for a utility-scale wind turbine by 2017
standards, it was as big as the biggest wind turbines in Australia at
the time of construction (see
Evolution of wind
turbines).
There is an interesting
net page about
the turbine on Waking Up In Geelong.
Unlike the Salmon Beach turbines this was still operating, after some breaks
for repairs, to the time of writing, May 2017.
Summary data, Breamlea Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating? | 1 | 0.06 | 0.06
| 1987 | Approx. S 38.30° | E 144.38°
|
The Bulgana Wind Farm construction update of October 2018 stated that the wind turbine foundations were 56% complete, internal roads 81% complete and crane hardstands 72% complete.
It was announced 2018/03/21 that finance had been finalised and that construction could go ahead.
I was informed by Neoen that major construction works will start in April or May.
French company Neoen has taken control of this project near Great Western and
Ararat in the Wimmera.
In addition to the wind farm, I believe that Neoen proposes a grid-scale
battery with a power capacity of 20 megawatts and energy storage of 34 megawatt-hours.
There is a
Net page on the project.
|
Sumarising an
article written by Dean lawson and published 2017/07/08 in The Weekly
Advertiser:
The Bulgana Wind Farm will be combined with grid-scale battery storage and
a 30-hectare expansion of Nectar Farms' greenhouse project.
The announcement was made by "Premier Daniel Andrews joined Energy Minister
Lily D'Ambrosio, Northern Grampians Shire Council and industry
representatives".
|
Northern Grampians Council unanimously approved this wind farm on 2015/03/23.
Federal Government approval under the Environmental Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act was received in late June 2015.
Summary data on Bulgana Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction commenced | Generation to commence | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Under construction | 56 | 3.465 | 196
| Mid 2018? | August 2019 | S 37.15?° | E 142.97?°
|
The turbine model will be Siemens Gamesa 3.465MW
Turbine number, model, size, total MW and construction date from
Franck Woitiez, Neoen by email.
The location is very approximate.
|
|
| |
Turbines of Cape Bridgewater Wind Farm
|
|
Located on Cape Bridgewater about 20 km west of Portland.
There are two sections to this farm, a northern and a southern.
The wind farm is built on coastal stable sand-dune country.
Pacific Hydro has a Net site on the
project.
Visiting Cape Bridgewater
For anyone interested in visiting or
photography,
there are some good
vantage points on a public road quite close to the northern section of
the wind farm.
When the southern section is built access would be similarly good there.
When I visited, the weather was poor for photography (mainly overcast).
Pacific Hydro established a Community Fund of $50 000 per year for
Cape Bridgewater.
As
Cape Nelson South Wind Farm is
nearby a combined fund of $90k for the two was created when that project
was constructed.
As of September 2010 the total distributed was $280k.
Cape Bridgewater summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each
| Total MW | Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 29 | REpower | MM82 | 2 | 58 | November 2008
| S 38.38° | E 141.39°
|
Further data from Pacific Hydro...
| Annual generation | 198GWh
|
|---|
| Capacity factor | 38.3%
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas saving | Up to 250 000 tonnes
|
|---|
| Windmills | 2MW REpower
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$130 million
|
|---|
Located on Cape Nelson about 10 km SW of Portland,
Cape Nelson Wind Farm is divided into a north and a south section.
Cape Nelson South summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Completion | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 22 | REpower | MM82 | 2 | 44
| June 2009 | S 38.41° | E 141.54°
|
Erection of turbines in Cape Nelson South commenced in September 2008,
the turbines are Repower and they operate at wind speeds of from
3.5 to 25m/s.
The towers were manufactured by Keppel Prince Engineering, the turbines
are REpower 2MW units.
Cape Nelson North summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Completion
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 11 | 2.05 | 22.55 | March 2015
| Approx. S 38.39° | E 141.52°
|
The turbines at Cape Nelson North will be REpower.
See Pacific Hydro's Net site
for more details.
As
Cape Bridgewater Wind Farm
was nearby, a combined fund of $90k for the two was created when Cape
Nelson South was constructed.
As of September 2010 the total distributed was $280k.
Located about 5 km south of Portland in mixed industrial, grazing, and
coastal heath reserve land.
Cape Sir William Grant summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Completion | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 12 | 2.05 | 24.6
| March 2015 | S 38.40° | E 141.63°
|
The turbines at Cape Sir William Grant are REpower.
See Pacific Hydro's Net site
for more details.
This wind farm is located on a north-south trending line of hills west of
Ararat, 190 km
WNW of Melbourne,
in western Victoria.
For an interactive map and/or directions to Challicum Hills go to
ExplorOz.
Pacific Hydro has a Net site on the
Wind Farm.
|
Challicum Hills Wind Farm (turbines faintly visible along sky-line)
from The Grampians before sunrise.
This photo was taken from Boroka lookout, which is about 62 km from the
turbines.
|
Challicum Hills summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Annual production
| Commissioned | Capacity factor | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 35 | NEG Micon | NM64 | 1.5 | 52.5 | 140 GWh | 2003
| 29% | S 37.40° | E 143.11°
|
The information in this table came from a variety of sources including
Pacific Hydro.
The capacity factor was calculated from AEMO data from March 2009 to
December 2012 via the Andrew Miskelly's Net pages.
| |
|
Challicum Hills Wind Farm
Photo taken in April 2008
| |
Further data from Pacific Hydro, the owner and operator of
Challicum Hills Wind Farm...
Visiting Challicum Hills Wind Farm
There is no public access to the range where the turbines are.
This is a pity, it greatly diminishes the potential for good views.
However, there is a sign-posted scenic drive around the range and there are a
couple of spots along this from which fair views can be had.
Andrew Bray produced a video in which Challicum Hills farmer Graeme Maconachie explained why he was proud to have wind turbines on his farm; it is apparently no longer available.
| |
| Generation record
|
|---|
| | Up to end 2012
| |
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Challicum Hills
Wind Farm as recorded by AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) and
downloaded via the ALG (Australian Landscape Guardians) Net site.
The units are average megawatts generated month by month.
Pacific Hydro established a Community Fund of $50 000 per year for
Challicum Hills; this equates $1429 per turbine per year.
As of September 2010 the total distributed was $280k.
Chepstowe Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Completion date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 3 | 2.05 | 6.15
| March 2015 | Approx. S 37.58° | E 143.52°
|
The coordinates above are for Chepstowe township
| |
| Chepstowe turbines
|
|---|
| | March 2015, photo by John P Morgan
| |
This very small wind farm is at Chepstowe 30 km west of Ballarat.
It is on land at 346 Carngham-Streaton Road.
Future Energy has a
Net
page on the project.
Victoria's Planning Minister announced that he had approved 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 2 km," 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 power line so there are no
sub-stations."
The capital cost of the project was expected to be around $18 million.
| |
News, 2019/02/15
It was announced that the wind farm had achieved financial close.
See an article by
King and Wood Mallesons.
|
|
In late December 2018 an article in
Mirage News stated that Vestas has signed a 58 MW engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the wind farm.
The article stated that "Commercial operations at Cherry Tree Wind Farm are scheduled to commence in first half of 2020."
This wind farm has been proposed by Infigen to be built near Seymore.
It seems that Infigen do not have a Net site giving information about the
project.
This is very poor practice.
They should be making every effort to inform the community about the
wind farm.
It was rejected by Mitchell Shire on the grounds that it "failed to
demonstrate a net community benefit" (but it seems that that ruling has been changed or overruled).
It seems that the shire's planning staff recommended that the project be
approved.
This issue was to be pursued in the Victorian Civil and Administrative
Tribunal beginning in the end of January 2013.
Summary data, Cherry Tree Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date
or is it the completion date? | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 16 | 3.6 | 57.6
| First half of 2020? | Approx. S 37.13° | E 145.11°
|
The coordinates above are very uncertain
|
|
| |
Codrington turbines from the northwest early on a grey morning
|
|
Located near Port Fairy on Victoria's south west coast
(260 km east of Melbourne), Codrington was
Pacific Hydro's first wind
farm development, and I believe, the second substantial wind farm in the
eastern states of Australia (after
Windy Hill Qld.)
The turbines are spread along the top of a stable sand dune paralleling, and
close to, the Southern Ocean.
For an interactive map and/or directions to Codrington go to
ExplorOz.
Pacific Hydro has a Net site on the
Wind Farm.
Sustainability Victoria in a document titled "Wind energy myths and facts"
of May 2007
reported 1.2 bird deaths per turbine per year at the Codrington Wind Farm.
Pacific Hydro celebrated Codrington's tenth anniversary on World Environment
Day, Sunday 5th June, 2011.
Visiting Codrington
While the Princes Highway passes within a few kilometres of the wind farm
it is not possible to get close to the turbines on any public roads.
I believe tours are available.
Perhaps the best views from a public road can be seen from a short
no-through-road off the highway toward the sand dunes at the NW end of
the wind farm.
Note that this wind farm is adjacent to
Yambuk Wind Farm, with no obvious boundary
between the two.
Codrington summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | MW each | Total MW
| Annual production | Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 14 | AN Bonus | 1.3 | 18.2 | 51GWh | June 2001
| S 38.28° | E 141.96°
|
The information in this table came from a variety of sources
including Pacific Hydro.
Further data from Pacific Hydro, the owner and operator of
Codrington Wind Farm...
| Capacity factor | 32%
|
|---|
| Availability | 98%
|
|---|
| Wind generators | AN Bonus
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$30 million
|
|---|
| Power purchase agreement | Origin
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas saving | Estimated at 71 000 tonnes
CO2 p.a.
|
|---|
| Tower height | 50m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 62m
|
|---|
| Start-up wind speed | 3m/sec, 10.8 km/hr
|
|---|
| Shut-down wind speed | 25m/sec, 90 km/hr
|
|---|
Pacific Hydro established a Community Fund of $50 000 per year for
their two adjacent wind farms, Codrington and Yambuk; this equates
$1471 per turbine per year.
As of September 2010 the total distributed is $280k.
On 2015/04/30 it was announced that Vestas would supply six V117-3.3 MW
wind turbines for this project.
This is Vestas' first order for this turbine model from Australia.
| |
News, 2016/04/15
Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm was officially opened.
|
|
Windlabs announced that a deal has been signed with Japanese company
Eurus Energy to provide 80% of the financing of the wind farm on 2015/04/28,
Windlab and local community shareholders will supply the remaining 20%.
Thirty owners of property within three kilometres of the wind farm have
agreed to take up a share of the project, which is being organised by
Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm Pty Ltd.
Windlab is the majority stakeholder.
A power-purchase agreement was signed between Windlab and the ACT
government in February 2015.
The ACT government is aiming to have 90% renewable energy by 2020.
It was announced that the wind farm will be operating within a year and
the payment will be $81.50/MWh.
There is a Net page on
the project.
If built it will be between the towns of Charlton and St Arnaud, about
90 km north-west of Bendigo.
It is notable for two reasons:
- It was the first wind farm to be approved in Victoria since the Baillieu
Government introduced very restrictive planning policies in 2011.
- It had a hybrid community/corporate ownership structure.
Coonooer Bridge summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction started
| Completion date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 6 | 3.3 | 19.8 | 2015/07/03 | April 2016
| S 36.436° | E 143.362°
|
Also known as Glenlofty Wind Farm
Pacific Hydro's January 2019 update stated that 25 turbines had been fully assembled, 23 were generating, and 14 remain to be completed.
RenewEconomy carried an
article written by Sophie Vorrath on 2018/03/23 reporting that ground had been broken for the construction of this wind farm.
Pacific Hydro has a
Net site on the project.
Key to the project is a consortium of 14 organisations that have contracted to buy a large proportion of the electricity that will be generated.
The consortium members are: the City of Melbourne, the University of Melbourne, RMIT, Federation Square, City of Port Phillip, City of Yarra, Moreland City Council, Bank Australia, Zoos Victoria, Citywide, National Australia Bank, Australia Post, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and NEXTDC.
Pacific Hydro is constructing this wind farm on a site 25 km
NE
of Ararat in western Victoria.
(Ararat is 190 km
WNW of Melbourne.)
The turbines will be along the ridgeline between Glenlofty and Crowlands.
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".
Crowlands summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction started
| Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Under construction | 39 | 2.05 | 80
| March 2018 | Early 2019 | Approx. S 37.13° | E 143.16°
|
Further data on the Crowlands Wind Farm
| Project cost | Aus$100 million
|
|---|
| Sustainable community fund | $80 000/yr
|
|---|
| Expected generation | 257GWh/yr
|
|---|
The information in these tables came from a variety of sources including
Pacific Hydro.
I was not able to find anything definite on this project on 2018/01/22; it has probably been abandoned.
The site of this proposed wind farm is about 10 km NW of Yarram and
20 km from the coast in south Gippsland.
The nearest large town is Traralgon, 44 km to the north, and it is
170 km
ESE of Melbourne.
Some of the data below was from
Dept. Primary Industry, Victoria.
There seems to have been no activity on this project for several years.
Devon North summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 7 | 2 | 14
| Unknown | Approx. S 38.50° | E 146.55°
|
The Gippsland Times reported that a requested extension of planning approval
was regected by the Wellington Shire Council; late February, 2012.
News
Construction started in the third week of January 2019.
7 November 2018:
RenewEconomy reported "The board of ... Tilt Renewables has given the go ahead for the $560 million Dundonnell wind farm ... after the company landed a major 15-year contract with Snowy Hydro for half the output of the 336MW facility."
Construction was expected to start early in 2019 with completion by the end of 2019.
(It seems that the correct completion date is late 2020.)
1 November 2018: Tilt announced that the project had reached financial closure.
September 2018: The Victorian government contracted with Dundonnell Wind Farm for 336MW.
|
This project was proposed by Trustpower.
It has apparently been taken over by Tilt Renewables, who have a
Web page about it.
RenewEconomy reported on 2016/07/06 that planning approval had been
granted by the Victorian government.
Trustpower gave the location as Dundonnell and about 25 km north-east of
Mortlake.
It is about 175 km west of Melbourne.
Summary data, Dundonnell Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Under construction | 80 | 4.2 | 336 | January 2019 | Late 2020 | Approx. S 37.910° | E 143.009°
|
Additional data on Dundonnell Wind Farm
| Owner/operator | Trustpower
|
|---|
| Total tip height of turbines | 189m
|
|---|
| Landholder land area | 3,500ha
|
|---|
| Area used by wind farm | Approx. 70ha
|
|---|
Also known as Purnim
There seems to have been little or no activity on this project for several
years (as of October 2008).
The developer is Wind Farm Developments.
The wind farm is to be 3 km north of Purnim, which is about 17 km NE
of Warrnambool and 220 km SSE of Melbourne.
Much of the data below was from
Dept. Primary Industry, Victoria.
Drysdale Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 13 | 2.3 | 30 | Undecided
| Approx. S 38.28° | E 142.62°
|
It is proposed that this small wind farm be built about 12.5 km
south of Simpson and about 170 km south-west of Melbourne.
A Planning Permit has been granted by the Victorian Minister for Planning.
The proponent,
Future Energy, has a
Net page on the project.
Summary data, Ferguson Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Development approved | Up to 3 | About 2 | About 6
| Third quarter 2018 | Approx. S 38.612° | E 143.244°
|
West Wind Energy's
Golden Plains Wind
Farm is to be built "southeast and west of the small township of
Rokewood", which is 38 km SSW of Ballarat and 110 km west of
Melbourne.
West Wind Energy has permission to build up to 228 turbines.
The state government decided that 47 of the turbines, in locations as originally proposed, might pose a danger to brolgas that nest in the area.
The locations of these turbines will quite probably be changed so as to be outside of the brolga buffer area.
The exact number of turbines to be built will depend on their size.
That has not yet been decided but I'm informed that it is likely to be 5 MW+; in that case the number of turbines is likely to be 200.
West Wind's page stated that there are 39 turbine-hosting landholders.
West Wind expects that the rates payable to the shire in relation to the wind farm will be about $800,000 per annum.
Construction is likely to take from four to six years.
Allison Warrall published a piece on
Domain, 2019/01/12, stating that:
- There will be a community fund worth $228,000 per year;
- The 40 landowners who would be hosting turbines would receive about $15,000 per turbine per year (a total of $3.5 million per year);
- Anyone living within two kilometres of a turbine would receive $1000 per year;
- Those within three kilometres would get free electricity; to a level comparable to average household consumption.
Summary data, Golden Plains Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 200-228 | 3-5 | 800-1000
| Undecided | Approx. S 37.90° | E 143.72°
|
The coordinates above are those of Rokewood.
Additional data on Wind Farm
| Owner/operator | WestWind Energy
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$1500-1700 million
|
|---|
| Expected annual generation | 3500 GWh
|
|---|
| Expected emissions abated annually | 3.5 million tonnes
|
|---|
| Site area | 16,739 ha
|
|---|
| Total turbine height (to blade tip) | Up to 230m
|
|---|
| Turbine rotor diameter | 150m
|
|---|
| |
| Hawkesdale Wind Farm
|
|---|
| | Map credit Union Fenosa Wind Australia
| |
| |
Update 2013/05/10, pers. com. Thomas Mitchell, Legal Manager, Union
Fenosa
Union Fenosa has called for 'information-only tenders'.
During the second stage of tendering UF aims to give local businesses
ample notice and information to enable them to compete.
The project requires a power purchase agreement before it can proceed.
|
|
I believe the proponents were originally Gamesa Energy Australia and TME
Australia P.L., but Union Fenosa later took over the project.
The proposed wind farm is 50 km SE of Hamilton and 30 km NW of
Warrnambool.
Around the end of 2012 the Ryan Corner
project was combined with Hawkesdale to form a single project.
(See
below.)
A newsletter from Union Fenosa Wind Australia
(UFWA) that I received
2012/05/11 said that 'early works' were completed.
Early works include and entrance road and a fenced site compound including
an office and toilet.
The email address for inquiries is info@unionfenosa.com.au, telephone
number 1800 457 181 or 02 8297 8720; the contact person
is Tom Mitchell.
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.
In early 2012 Union Fenosa had a problem due to their allowing the permit
to lapse.
On 2012/02/25 the Warrnambool Standard announced that Planning Minister
Matthew Guy had approved the project.
The Standard went on to report that
"Union Fenosa managing director Domingo Asuero said the company would provide
site possession to Portland-based GR Carr Construction.
He said early works on the sites would start within weeks."
Hawkesdale Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 31 | 2 | 62
| Unknown | Approx. S 38.12° | E 142.34°
|
|
Additional information on Hawkesdale
|
| Project cost | Around Aus$130 million
|
|---|
| Annual generation | Estimated 163GWh
|
|---|
| Annual CO2 abatement | Estimated 332 thousand tonnes
|
|---|
| Tower height | 78m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 87m
|
|---|
| Blade length | 43.5m
|
|---|
| Total height | 121.5m
|
|---|
Forced commencement
This is one of several Victorian wind farms where construction had to start
by mid March 2012 or approval would have to be sought again under the
new laws.
Approval under the new laws would be very unlikely.
But serious construction has not followed.
|
The ABC on-line news carried the following on 2008/08/25...
"The Victorian Government has confirmed a 68-turbine farm at Ryan's
Corner, near Port Fairy, and a 31-turbine farm near Hawkesdale, will
go ahead."
| |
This section added 2017/04/15
Edited 2018/02/23
|
|
This wind farm was built by WindLabs and is located about 50 km north-west of Horsham and 10 km south-east of Nhill.
There is a Net page at
kiatawindfarm.com.au.
There was a sod-turning ceremony on 2017/03/21.
All turbines were erected by 2017/10/09.
At that date the operators stated that the wind farm should be fully operational in early December.
Summary data, Kiata Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction start | Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 9 | 3.45 | 31.05
| 2017/03/22 | 2017/12/20 | S 36.4° | E 141.76°
|
The location above is from the Kiata Wind Farm Net page
The turbines are Vestas, V126 Mark 3, tower height will be 117 metres, blade
length 63 metres.
Much of the above information came from Martin Vries of WindLab by email.
| |
News, May 2018
An article in The Ballarat Courier on May 20th reported that construction of Lal Lal Wind Farm would begin by the end of the month and that it was expected to be completed by September 2019.
|
|
This proposed wind farm will be in the vicinity of Lal Lal, 25 km SE of
Ballarat.
There will be two sections, one just north of Elaine (south of Lal Lal) and the other east of Yendon (north of Lal Lal).
The two sections are about 9 km apart.
There is a
net page about the project; it includes a layout map.
The proposer was WestWind, but they sold the project to Macquarie Capital in 2017.
Lal Lal summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction expected
| Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 60 | 3.6 | 216 | May 2018 | September 2019 | S 37.71° | E 144.01°
|
Further data on Lal Lal Wind Farm...
| Wind farm sections
|
|---|
| Name | Lat. | Long
|
|---|
| Elaine | S 37.76° | E 144.00°
| | Yendon | S 37.64° | E 144.02°
|
The developers have stated that they expect council rates to be
$215 000 per year.
The proposed community fund is $50 000 per year, or $781 per turbine
per year or $231 per installed MW per year.
| |
Hepburn given World Wind Energy Award at Bonn
At the invitation of the World Wind Energy Association Taryn Lane of
Hepburn Wind gave a presentation at the World Wind Energy Conference in
Bonn, Germany, in July 2012.
Congratulations to Hepburn Wind on receiving this prestigious award!
|
|
This community wind farm has a Net page at
Hepburn Wind.
It is 27 km NE of Ballarat and 10 km south of Daylesford at Leonards
Hill.
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.
Hepburn Community Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Completion date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 2 | 2.05 | 4.1
| 2011/06/22 | S 37.43° | E 144.12°
|
| |
| Hepburn Community Wind Farm
|
|---|
| |
| |
Generation from the wind farm is expected to be about 12.2GWh per year and
capacity factor around 34%.
|
Hepburn Wind has allocated $15k per turbine per year to their Community
Sustainability Fund in the financial year commencing 1 July 2011.
This will be increased by CPI annually and is expected over the first 25
years to exceed $1 000 000.
Hepburn's community fund is far greater, per turbine, than any other in
Australia.
Simon Holmes à Court, Chairman of Hepburn Wind, has said that
"this is the first time a wind farm in Australia will be paying more to
the community than it does in lease payments".
|
See my notes on
Community wind farm, or not?
elsewhere.
In order to increase my personal experience with being close to wind turbines
I slept a
night about 500m from these turbines on the night of 2012/11/17-18.
Lexton Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Project abandoned | 19 | 2 | 38
| Unknown | Approx. S 37.31° | E 143.48°
|
|
Lexton Wind Farm location
Acknowledgment Wind Power
|
The developer is Wind Power, which is fully owned by Origin.
Lexton is about 43 km NW of Ballarat and 140 km WNW of Melbourne.
The wind farm site consists of two distinct areas between 2 km and
8 km SW of the township of Lexton, see map at the right.
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.
I've heard on the grapevine that Origin have decided to not procede with this
project (2012/08/28).
Additional data on Lexton Wind Farm
| Annual generation | 137GWh expected
|
|---|
| Capital cost | Aus$110 million
|
|---|
| Turbine Model | Repower MM92 (2MW)
|
|---|
| |
No change in infrasound levels
Business Spectator reported on
2013/07/25 on a Resonate Acoustics study indicating that infrasound levels
were the same before and after the commissioning of the Macarthur Wind Farm.
|
|
Macarthur Wind Farm is the biggest in Australia (as of Nov. 2012) and
the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere so far as I have been able to find
out (although Stockyard Hill Wind Farm, which has received
Government approval, will be bigger if and when it is built).
In November 2012 all of the Macarthur turbines were in place and most were
generating power.
The first of the Macarthur turbines started generating power on the weekend
of 2012/09/29-30.
Macarthur is 33 km south of Hamilton and about 270 km west of
Melbourne; the wind farm is 12 to 15 km east of Macarthur.
Macarthur summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each
| Total MW | Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 140 | Vestas | V112 | 3.0 | 420
| Early 2013 | Approx. S 38.04° | E 142.20°
|
The wind farm was constructed by a Vestas/Leighton Contractors consortium.
AGL will acquire all of the wind farm's energy output and renewable
energy certificates.
It has been connected to the Heywood-Mooralbool 500kV transmission line
by a new 14 km line.
Further data on Macarthur Wind Farm
| Project cost | Aus$1b, estimated
|
|---|
| Average wind speed | 7.6m/s
|
|---|
| Capacity factor (2016)
| 26%
|
|---|
| Turbine height | 84 m
|
|---|
| Maximum blade tip height | 140 m
|
|---|
| Length of on-site access tracks | 90 km
|
|---|
| Length of underground cables | 90 km
|
|---|
| Total concrete used | 56 000 cubic metres (estimated)
|
|---|
| Steel reinforcing used | 8 000 tonnes
|
|---|
| Greenhouse carbon dioxide avoided | 1.7m tonnes per annum, estimated
|
|---|
The above information was taken from the AGL Net site
The Vestas V-112-3.0MW turbines will be equal in generating capacity to the
highest elsewhere in Australia (Waterloo WF, SA), and the rotors will be
greater in diameter than any in Australia (Waterloo has 90m diameter rotors,
compared to the 112m rotors of Macarthur).
They will reach their full generating capacity at a wind speed of about
11m/s.
The swept area
is 9 852m2, almost a hectare; the blades are 54.6m long.
| | A few of the Macarthur wind turbines
|
| |
| Macarthur Wind Farm – turbines operable
|
|---|
| The number of turbines operational and capable of generating
electricity at Macarthur Wind Farm
Image credit: Vestas
| |
The graph on the right records the start-up period of Macarthur Wind Farm.
Note that as soon as all the turbines were on-line for the first time (about
2013/01/08) there were only very short periods when one or possibly two
turbines were not operable.
This is a remarkable demonstration of the reliability of Vestas turbines.
What other industry would show such a high level of availability on
brand-new machines?
It is proposed that this small wind farm be built near Maroona, about
18 km south-west of Ararat and about 190 km WNW of Melbourne.
The Planning Permit was granted by the Victorian Minister for Planning on
2016/05/04.
The proponent,
Future Energy, has a not very informative
Net page on the project.
Renew Power Group have also invested in the project, and have a
web page about it.
Summary data, Maroona Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction start | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Development approved | 2 | 3.45 | 6.9 | Unknown | Unknown | Approx. S 37.407° | E 142.790°
|
The height of the turbines, to the blade tip, will by up to
150m
Access will be via Andrews Lane
| |
| Location Plan
|
|---|
| | Image credit Goldwind
| |
As of early April 2019 in the north section approximately 22km of access tracks were complete, 50 foundations excavated and 48 concrete turbine foundation pours had been completed; in the south section approximately 25km of access tracks were complete, 46 foundations excavated and 27 concrete turbine foundation pours had been completed.
The poles for the transmission line had all been erected and stringing the wires was nearly completed.
Goldwind announced that turbine components would be arriving at the wind farm until mid-August.
The developer, Goldwind, have an informative
net page on the project.
The wind farm will be in two sections with 107 turbines in total.
The Bungeeltap Section, to the north, is proposed to contain 50 wind turbines, and the Ballark (sometimes called Mt Wallace) section, to the south, is proposed to contain 57 turbines.
Goldwind proposes a Neighbour Involvement (Electricity) Scheme.
"Houses within 3 km of a wind turbine are eligible to participate in this
scheme.
It offers homeowners $1,500 per year to contribute towards their electricity
usage costs."
It is expected that there will be "up to 300" jobs during construction and
"in excess of 20 full time jobs during operation".
Goldwind have promised a community fund of between $100,000 and $200,000 per
year once the wind farm is operating.
The latest newsletter states that they have already provided local
sponsorship for eight initiatives and events.
Moorabool North Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Construction | 50 | 3 | 150 | July 2018 | Late 2019 | Approx. S 37.71° | E 144.11°
|
Moorabool South Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction started | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Construction | 57 | 3 | 171 | September 2018 | ? | Approx. S 37.71° | E 144.11°
|
| |
| Location of Mortlake wind farms
|
|---|
| | Map credit Acciona
| |
Sophie Vorrath reported for
Renew Economy 2019/03/11 that construction had started on Mortlake South Wind Farm.
Originally Acciona Energy proposed that this wind farm consist of two parts,
Mortlake East about 9.5 km east of Mortlake, and Mortlake South about
5 km south of Mortlake.
I believe that the Mortlake East section has been abandoned by Acciona, but the Mortlake South section is under construction.
Acciona has a not very informative
Net page on the project.
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 42 km NE of Warrnambool.
Mortlake South is to be about 5 km south of Mortlake at the closest point; see the map on the right.
September 2018 The Victorian government contracted with Mortlake South Wind Farm for 157.5MW.
According to Acciona's Mortlake South newsletter dated August 2017 they provided a total of $18,558 in community funding in 2017.
Mortlake South Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Battery MW/MWh | Construction date | Completion expected by | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Under construction | 35 | 4.5 | 157.5 | 5-7/?
| March 2019 | 2020 | S 38.15° | E 142.85°
|
Mortlake East Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Abandoned | Up to 50 | 2.1? | Approx. 200
| Unknown | S 38.07° | E 142.98°
|
Also known as Woodhouse Wind Farm
NewEN Australia has some involvement
in this project; it is a subsidiary of two German companies.
The Chinese company Goldwind did own this project, but sold its interest to
China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group subsidary CGN Wind Energy.
The wind farm is to be 12 km NE of Penshurst which is 26 km SE of
Hamilton and 230 km west of Melbourne.
Goldwind
have (had?) a Net page
on the project.
Reuters published an article on 2012/06/29 stating that Goldwind had sold
the project to CGN Wind Energy Ltd.
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".
Morton's Lane Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each
| Total MW | Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 13 | Goldwind | GW82 | 1.5 | 19.5
| December 2012? | Approx. S 37.84° | E 142.41°
|
Goldwind GW82, 1.5 MW turbines have been used.
According to Ecogeneration, these will be 'Permanent Magnet Direct Drive'
turbines.
Goldwind expects that the wind farm generate up to 66.7 GWh of power
annually (from which one can calculate a capacity factor of 39%).
The wind farm started putting electricity into the national grid in
November 2012.
| |
|
This section added 2017/12/12
|
|
This wind farm is proposed by Woolnorth Wind; the site is in Victoria's
western plains, five kilometres north of Mortlake, on the Mortlake-Ararat Road.
It will be on privately owned grazing and farming land across 14 properties.
Much of the information in this section was taken from the
Woolnorth Net page
on the project.
Summary data, Mount Fyans Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 80-85 | 3-3.2? | About 250
| Undecided | Approx. S ° | E °
|
Also called Colac Wind Farm?
| |
| | Photo credit Acciona
|
|
Update 2018/07/13
I had an email from Acciona today: "The project is currently 96% complete. We currently have 15 turbines generating electricity and this will increase to 22 by the end of next week. The remaining 22 turbines will come online in August, allowing the wind farm to be fully operational and producing 132 MW of clean energy."
|
This wind farm is in the vicinity of Mount Gellibrand, 25 km east
of Colac, 17 km west of Winchelsea and about 110 km SSW of Melbourne.
It was given initial planning approval by the Victorian Minister for Planning,
Rob Hulls, on August 20th, 2006.
The project has changed hands twice.
Acciona, the current owner, has an email address for inquiries:
gellibrand@acciona.com.au and a
net site on the project.
Mount Gellibrand summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction started
| Expected completion | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Construction | 44 | 3 | 132
| April 2017 | August 2018 | Approx. S 38.23° | E 143.80°
|
The coordinates are those of Mount Gellibrand
The wind farm will be constructed around the southern and western sides of Mount
Gellibrand.
|
|
| Photos by John P. Morgan, received 2013/09/20
|
|---|
|
| |
This wind farm is south of Mount Mercer and 35 km
south of Ballarat (turn off the Midland Highway at Buninyong and go
directly south) and was given planning approval in April 2007.
Meridian Energy, a NZ company, and West Wind Energy were the proponents
for this project;
there was a Net page.
It was announced on 2014/09/11 that the wind farm was fully operational and
connected to the grid.
The site is relatively flat except for two volcanic cones: Mt Mercer and
Mt Lawaluk.
The land is used primarily for grazing and cropping.
There are seven host landholders and the site area is 2 600ha.
Mount Mercer summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 64 | REpower | MM92 | 2.05 | 131
| September 2014 | S 37.85° | E 143.87°
|
Further data on Mount Mercer Wind Farm...
| Project
|
|---|
| Cost | Aus$260 million
|
|---|
| Expected generation | Up to 395GWh per year
|
|---|
| Expected life | 25 years
|
|---|
| Turbines
|
|---|
| Type | Enercon E82
|
|---|
| Height of towers | Up to 85m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 82m
|
|---|
| Total height of turbines, to blade tip | Expected 126m
|
|---|
| Spacing of towers | Around 400m
|
|---|
| |
Note, April 2019
I've heard that stage one has been commissioned, but I have not been able to confirm that.
I've also heard that stage two is in doubt because of Senvion's financial difficulties.
|
|
Joshua S Hill wrote an
article for CleanTechnica, 2018/03/14, stating that:
"The 226 megawatt (MW) Murra Warra Wind Farm Stage One has announced financial close this week after securing investments from developer Renewable Energy Systems and banking giant Macquarie Group, which will allow construction to commence immediately."
The wind farm was proposed by RES, who have a
net page on the project.
It will be some 17 km east of Dimboola, 25km north of Horsham and 280 km NW of Melbourne.
On December 21, 2017 Sophie Vorrath
wrote for RenewEconomy that an agreement to supply all the power generated by the wind farm had been reached with a consortium headed by Telstra; the other parties in the power purchase agreement were ANZ Bank, Coca Cola Amatil and University of Melbourne.
The below was extracted from the RenewEconomy article:
They have signed up because the power is the cheapest available!
The wind farm will be owned by RES and Macquarie Capital.
“Increasingly, large users of energy are contracting directly with renewable energy producers and we see this direct engagement as a meaningful contributor to the world’s transition to a lower carbon economy,” said Mr Bishop of Macquarie Capital.
RenewEconomy carried an article by Sophie Vorrath on 2017/06/14 stating that a deal had been made to deliver 116 Senvion turbines for the project.
Summary data, Murra Warra Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Under construction | 116 | 3.7 | 429 | Approx. S 36.48° | E 142.22°
|
Murra Warra Wind Farm, Stage 1
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date | Completion expected
|
|---|
| Under construction | 61 | 3.7 | 225.7 | March 2018 | Mid 2019
|
Murra Warra Wind Farm, Stage 2
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Completion expected
|
|---|
| Approved | 55 | 3.7 | 203.5 | ? | ?
|
Additional data on Murra Warra Wind Farm
| Height to tip of blade | 220m
|
|---|
The developer is Wind Farm Developments.
Naroghid is between Camperdown, Terang and Cobden, and about 50 km NNE of
Warrnambool and 180 km WSW of Melbourne.
Some of the data below was from
Dept. Primary Industry, Victoria.
There is a Net site by
Wind Farm
Developments.
Wind Farm Developments had until 2012/03/15 to start work on the project,
but having failed to do so, lost the approval that they previously held.
(Warrnambool Standard, 2012/03/16.)
Naroghid Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 21 | 2 | 42 | Unknown
| Approx. S 38.26° | E 143.04°
|
The Warrnambool Standard carried an article on 2012/02/24 stating that
Acciona Energy have abandoned this project.
Construction expense, geographic location and changed economic conditions were
cited as reasons for the decision.
This project has been proposed by Acciona Energy and is intended to be
built about eight kilometres north of Port Campbell.
Acciona's development director is Andrew Thomas.
The timeline for construction is not finalised but it is anticipated that
work will extend over several years.
(From The Warrnambool Standard,
2011/07/30)
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."
Summary data, Newfield Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Project abandoned | 15 | ? | 22.5
| Approx. S 38.55° | E 143.00°
|
Also known as Glenthompson Wind Farm
| |
| Some of the Oaklands Hill turbines
|
|---|
| |
AGL did own this wind farm, but have apparently sold it to Challenger Life.
(From the Warrnambool Standard, 2011/06/28, and Sydney Morning Herald,
2011/07/04.)
It was built on a series of ridgelines 3 to 5 km
south of Glenthompson and about 50 km east of Hamilton in western Victoria.
The area has been cleared for grazing, the hills round and grassy, and
the ridges have a variety of orientations.
AGL's Net site (which may no longer be available) included a map showing the layout of the farm.
Suzlon S88 2.1MW turbines are used and the estimated capital cost of the
project was 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."
Oaklands Hill Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Completion due | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 32 | Suzlon | S88 | 2.1 | 63
| 2012/02/28 | Approx. S 37.68° | E 142.55°
|
|
32 × 2.1 does not equal 63;
total output is capped at 63MW, "which allows for at least one
turbine to be off-line at any time for service or maintenance"
|
Victorian Energy and Resources Minister Peter Batchelor turned the first
sod on the site on 2010/03/19.
Suzlon, who are supplying the turbines, have a
downloadable pdf
file.
Suzlon have taken responsibility for most of the construction, including
roads, turbines and electrical system, as well as maintenance once the farm
is operating.
All the 26 km of electrical cable within the farm is to be underground.
Further data on Oaklands Hill Wind Farm
| Turbine height | 80 m
|
|---|
| Max blade tip height | 124 m
|
|---|
| Length of on-site access tracks | 26 km
|
|---|
| Length of underground cables | 26 km
|
|---|
| Concrete | 10 240m3
|
|---|
| Steel for towers | 5460t
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gases saved each year | 185 000t
|
|---|
|
|
The above data were taken from AGL's Net pages
A posting on planning.vic.gov.au stated:
"The Penshurst Wind Farm was a proposal of RES Australia Pty Ltd, on land located south of the township of Penshurst in south west Victoria. In October 2017 RES formally advised the government that is no longer proceeding with this project or the EES."
I thank Robert Ongley for informing me of this.
|
Penshurst Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Project cancelled | 223? | 3? | 675? | Unknown
| S 37.91° | E 142.19°
|
|
|
| | Map credit RES
|
|
There was an article about the project in
The Warrnambool Standard on
15th Nov. 2010.
It stated that RES propose up to 225 turbines and that they will be 175m
from base to blade tip.
RES intend to lodge the planning permit application in the first quarter
of 2011.
The Liberal Government elected in
late November 2010 have changed the laws
to not allow wind turbines to be built within
two kilometres of residences not financially connected to a wind farm.
This project would have to be of questionable viability should it not be
built before this law comes into force.
This big wind farm project was built by Pacific Hydro in several stages.
The individual units are:
Nearby is the older Codrington, also
owned by Pacific Hyrdro, but apparently not considered a part of the
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."
Portland wind project
| Stage | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
|
|---|
| Wind farm | Yambuk
| Cape Bridgewater
| Cape Nelson South
| Cape Nelson North
| Cape Sir William Grant
| Total
|
|---|
| Installed MW | 30
| 58
| 44
| 22.6
| 25
| 179
| | Cap. fac. | 31% | C.B. and C.N.S.
combined – 37% | |
The capacity factors are calculated from AEMO data up to December
2012 via Andrew Miskelly's Net page (no longer available).
|
| |
| Generation record
|
|---|
| | Up to end 2012
| |
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Cape Bridgewater
and Cape Nelson South
Wind Farms as recorded by AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) and
downloaded via the ALG (Australian Landscape Guardians) Net site.
The units are average megawatts generated month by month.
|
This very small wind farm is proposed by Future Energy PL, who have
applied for planning approval.
Future Energy had a Net page
(http://www.pykeshillwindfarm.com.au/project.html) on the project, but as of
2011/12/11 it was no longer available.
Pykes Hill Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Abandoned | 3 | 2? | 6? | Never
| S 37.58° | E 144.28°
|
|
|
| |
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 37 km east of Ballarat.
The planning application was lodged in January 2010.
Abandoned!
On 2011/09/02 an article was published in the Ballarat Courier (written by
Jennifer Grieve) stating that "Future Energy has abandoned its plan to build
three wind turbines at Pykes Hill".
Future Energy's managing director David Shapero "said Future Energy
planned to take its renewable energy developments interstate".
| |
|
This section added 2018/06/01
|
|
Proposed by NewEn,
Rifle Butts Wind Farm received approval by the Victorian minister for planning in late May 2018.
The NewEn Web site states that the wind farm is to be about 20km west of Horsham and "is located approximated 4km west of Wonwondah North, VIC 3401. It is situated to the north of Rifle Butts Road, east of Sandy Creek and to the south of Rifle Butts Road, west of OConnors Lane."
"NewEn has been conducting wind measurements via a LIDAR unit since January 2017. After the initial results were successful a met mast of 85m in height was installed in September 2017 for more accurate wind measurement."
Summary data, Rifle Butts Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
|
|---|
| Approved | 13 | Approx. 3 | Approx. 40 | Undecided
|
Additional data on Rifle butts Wind Farm
| Total turbine height (to blade tip) | Up to 235m
|
|---|
| Turbine tower height | Up to 150m
|
|---|
Also called Ryan's Corner Wind Farm
| |
| Ryan Corner Wind Farm
|
|---|
| | Map credit Union Fenosa Wind Australia
| |
| |
Update 2013/05/10, pers. com. Thomas Mitchell, Legal Manager, Union
Fenosa
Union Fenosa has called for 'information-only tenders'.
During the second stage of tendering UF aims to give local businesses
ample notice and information to enable them to compete.
The project requires a power purchase agreement before it can proceed.
|
|
Planning Minister Matthew Guy announced that construction had started in
March 2012.
The email address for inquiries is info@unionfenosa.com.au, telephone
number 1800 457 181; or 02 8297 8720; the contact person
is Tom Mitchell.
Around the end of 2012 the Ryan Corner project was combined with
Hawkesdale Wind Farm
to form a single project.
See below.
On 2012/02/25 the Warrnambool Standard announced that Minister
Guy had approved this project.
The Standard went on to report that
"Union Fenosa managing director Domingo Asuero said the company would provide
site possession to Portland-based GR Carr Construction."
The Standard reported that
"Many of the turbines will be erected on [Yambuk farmer Kieron] Moore's
property, situated north-east of Yambuk."
The proponent is Union Fenosa Wind Aust.
The proposed wind farm is 12 km NW of Port Fairy, near Yambuk and
Codrington.
The site covers an area of approximately 3 600ha and comprises
twelve land holdings.
It has been substantially cleared and is currently used for grazing.
It is generally bound by the Port Fairy-Hamilton Road, Fingerboard
Road, and Shaw River.
It is dissected by Riverside Road and Harris Road.
Ryan Corner Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 67 | 2 | 134 | Unknown
| Approx. S 38.28° | E 142.14°
|
Additional information on Ryan Corner
| Project cost | Up to Aus$300 million
|
|---|
| Annual generation | Estimated 360GWh
|
|---|
| Annual CO2 abatement | Estimated 332 thousand tonnes
|
|---|
| Tower height | 78m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | 87m
|
|---|
| Blade length | 43.5m
|
|---|
| Total height | 121.5m
|
|---|
Forced commencement
This is one of several Victorian wind farms where construction had to start
by mid March 2012 or approval would have to be sought again under the
new laws.
Approval under the new laws would be very unlikely.
But serious construction has not followed.
|
The ABC on-line news carried the following on 2008/08/25...
"The Victorian Government has confirmed a 68-turbine farm at Ryan's
Corner, near Port Fairy, and a 31-turbine farm near Hawkesdale, will
go ahead."
Thomas Mitchell of Union Fenosa provided the following on 2013/02/08:
|
"Ryan Corner and Hawkesdale are essentially a single project, as they are
now advanced to a similar stage and both have been fully-permitted to
proceed with construction.
Both will connect to the national electricity grid at Tarrone using common
transmission and connection infrastructure, both will be constructed by the
same head contractor (either simultaneously or in succession), both will
commence operations simultaneously, and both will sell their electricity to
a single customer under a power purchase agreement (PPA) contract.
We now regard the two projects, for all practicable purposes, as a single
project.
Ryan Corner Development Pty Limited (a subsidiary of UFWA) became the owner
of both the Ryan Corner and Hawkesdale projects through a merger that we
completed last year, and it has been making a combined offering in power
purchase agreement negotiations with customers for our electricity.
It will be able to offer a larger, single contract to the head contractor,
which will create greater economies of scale during construction and make
both sites easier to project manage during the construction phase.
The projects will take about 14 months to build, and we need to be wary of
the project delays that another record-breaking wet winter might entail."
|
Also known as Woorndoo Wind Farm
The developer was NewEN Australia but they sold the project to Trust Power who
then put it into the hands of a subsidiary company, Tilt Renewables.
Tilt has a
Net page on the project.
The wind farm is to about 20 km north of Mortlake, which is 42 km
NE of Warrnambool and 190 km SSW of Melbourne.
It was given planning approval in June 2007.
The wind farm will use Vestas V126-3.6 MW wind turbines and is expected to
generate around 172 GWh of electricity annually.
ABC On-line News carried an article dated 2012/02/29 which said that Moyne
Council had approved amended permits the previous night.
Quoting from Tilt's newsletter of June 2017:
"Once the wind farm is complete Tilt Renewables will implement a Salt Creek
Community Fund, to allow nearby community groups and organisations to
apply for small amounts of supporting funding.
This is in addition to the Salt Creek Scholarship Program, a jointly funded
initiative between Salt Creek Wind
Farm land holder Peter Coy and Tilt Renewables, which will see a $30,000
annual scholarship program for local residents."
Salt Creek Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction
| Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 15 | 3.6 | 54
| July 2017 | July 2018 | Approx. S 37.92° | E 142.79°
|
The developer is Roaring 40s who have been investigating the Sidonia Hills
site since 2004.
An email I had from infoaustralia@roaring40s.com stated that Roaring 40s
expected to submit a planning application in late 2009.
Direct inquiries to the above or to SidoniaHills@roaring40s.com.
The site is about 10 km NE of Kyneton, which is about 60 km 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."
The predominant current use of the site at present is for grazing.
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.
Sidonia Hills Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 34 | 2 | 68 | Undecided
| Approx. S 37.17° | E 144.55°
|
Further data on Sidonia Hills
| Project data
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$130-150 million
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas saving | Estimated at 250 000 tonnes
CO2 p.a.
|
|---|
Sisters Wind Farm has been proposed by Wind Farm Developments and, if
built, will be about 10 km west of Terang.
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).
Sisters Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed? | 12 | 2 | 24MW | Unknown
| Approx. S 38.24° | E 142.80°
|
Synergy Wind PL had an unusually informative Net page on the farm, but it is no longer available.
It is proposed to be in West Gippsland 5 km east of the existing
Wanthaggi Wind Farm.
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.
St Clair Wind Farm summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
| Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 10 to 15 | 2 or 3? | 30 | Unknown
| Approx. S 38.60° | E 145.65°
|
|
Victorian parliamentarian (MLA) Ken Smith, who lives about 1 km from the
proposed wind farm, seems to be leading the local opposition.
|
Further data on St Clair Wind Farm
| Average wind speed | 8m per second
|
|---|
| Tower height | 80m
|
|---|
| Overall height | 120 to 130m
|
|---|
| Tower diameter | Base 4-5m, top 2.5m
|
|---|
| Base | Concrete 3m thick, 12m diameter on driven concrete piles
|
|---|
| Turbine blades | 3, variable pitch about 41m long, fibre glass
|
|---|
| Rotation rate | 10 to 25 revolutions per minute
|
|---|
| |
|
This section edited 2022/12/10
|
|
| |
Update December 2022
Ten years after it was first proposed the status of this wind farm is still only 'proposed'. Will it ever be built? Who knows?
At a time when minimising greenhouse emissions was widely recognised as urgent in the extreme, Australia is going very slowly, if going anywhere at all with offshore wind power.
|
|
Proposed in 2012 this seems to be Australia's first offshore wind farm to be seriously considered.
The proponents have a
Web site about the project which is intended to be in Bass Straight off the coast of Gippsland, certainly one of the best places available for an offshore wind farm in Australia.
It is intended to be due south of the towns of Port Albert and Yarram, which would put it about 25km east of Wilson's Promontory and 200km south-east of Melbourne.
It can be calculated that, if built, this wind farm will generate enough power annually (around 7,000 GWh) to reduce emissions by something like five million tonnes per year by displacing fossil fuelled generation.
In late February 2019 it seemed that
federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor was delaying the project, perhaps due to his hatred of wind power.
Summary data, Star of the South Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction date
|
|---|
| Proposed | 250 | ? | Up to 2,000 | Undecided
|
| |
|
From Wind Power's July 2008 newsletter
Note that the number of turbines has since been changed.
|
|
Goldwind own this farm between Beaufort and Skipton, and about 40 km west of Ballarat.
Origin Energy has contracted to buy the electricity that will be generated.
News; February 2019
The first turbine had been completed.
|
About May 2017 Origin committed to a long-term power purchase agreement at 'well below' $60/MWh;
RenewEconomy.
(Later news indicated the price was below $55/MWh.)
The Wall Street Journal published the following on 2013/01/16:
"Origin is continuing development works through 2013, including securing
the transmission line easements.
This work will inform Stockyard Hill's final technical design as well as
the timing of any final investment decision on the project"
This was a quote from an Origin spokesman.
I had the following from a reliable source on 2012/04/11:
"After panel hearings and advice, [Stockyard Hill Wind Farm] was radically
cut by Minister Justin Maddern in Nov. 2010 from 242 turbines to 157 for 2
reasons: the threat to a brolga population and the pressure from one
Peter Mitchell
who owns the historic Mawallock property which was in line of sight."
As of early 2019 this project, even with the reduced number of turbines, 149 as proposed, will be the biggest wind farm in Australia and possibly in the Southern Hemisphere.
Stockyard Hill Wind Farm summary data (updated 2021/03/24)
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction start | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Construction | 149 | 3.6 approx. | 530 | June 2018 | 2019 | Approx. S 37.56° | E 143.39°
|
Further information on Stockyard Hill Wind Farm (updated 2021/03/24)
| Project cost | Aus$1b
|
|---|
| Hub height | 110m
|
|---|
| Blade length | 70m
|
|---|
| Max height reached by blades | 180m
|
|---|
| Jobs during construction | 665
|
|---|
| Full time jobs | 30
|
|---|
Owned by Union Fenosa Wind Australia
Tarrone Wind Farm
is intended to be 25 km North of Pt Fairy; there is a map of the project in
the newsletter of March 2011.
It is expected that Tarrone will share the same grid connection with
Hawkesdale and
Ryan Corner wind farms.
It is expected that "up to" 30 jobs will be created in the construction
period, and five full time jobs for the life of the wind farm.
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.
Summary data on Tarrone Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 20 | 3 | 60
| Not known | Approx. S 38.20° | E 142.24°
|
Further data on Tarrone Wind Farm
| Capital cost | Estimated $110m
|
|---|
| Total site area | 1 100ha
|
|---|
|
UFWA has stated that "the wind farm will directly fund community
enhancement projects", but has not yet given any amounts.
|
It is proposed that this small wind farm be built about 7 km
south-west of Timboon and about 190 km south-west of Melbourne.
A Planning Permit has been granted by the Victorian Minister for Planning.
The proponent, BayWa r.e., has a
Net page on the project.
Summary data, Timboon West Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW | Construction started | Completion expected | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Under construction | 2 | 3.6 | 7.2 | March 2018 | Late 2018? | Approx. S 38.528° | E 142.921°
|
Toora summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 12 | Vestas | V66 | 1.75 | 21 | 2002
| S 38.65° | E 146.34°
|
|
|
Looking from Toora toward Wilsons Promontory at dawn
|
Toora is north of Wilsons Promontory and 150 km SE of Melbourne.
The wind farm is on a ridge overlooking the town.
For an interactive map and/or directions to Toora go to
ExplorOz.
Toora Wind Farm was originally owned by Stanwell Corporation, but was
acquired by Transfield Services Infrastructure Fund, who bought all
Stanwell's wind farms in December 2007.
More recently TSIF's wind power assets were taken over by Ratch Australia
Corporation
ALSTOM was contracted to design, supply, install and commission the
22/66kV substation, together with associated civil works.
Vestas Wind Systems - a Danish company, and one of the world's largest
turbine manufacturers - constructed the wind farm.
I visited Toora in late April 2008, staying in the caravan park at the foot
of the hill on which the wind farm is built.
My impression when I was close to the turbines was that they might have
been a little noisier than most others I have visited, but even so,
they were barely audible from the caravan park, and then only once in a
while.
Visiting Toora Wind Farm
There are good viewing and photography points on a road that passes right
by the wind farm.
From some of these views of the coastal plain, the Strzelecki Ranges, and
Wilsons Promontory can be combined with views of the turbines.
Accommodation is available in a caravan park at Toora.
Further data from Transfield, the owner of this wind farm...
| Project data
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$38 million
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas saving | Estimated at 48 000 tonnes
CO2 p.a.
|
|---|
|
|
|
Toora Wind Farm; Strzelecki ranges in background
|
| Turbine data
|
|---|
| Rotation rate | 21.3 revolutions per minute
|
|---|
| Productive wind speeds | From 4 to 25 m/sec
(14 km/h)
|
|---|
| Cut-in wind speed | 4m/sec (14 km/h)
|
| Nominal wind speed | 16m/sec (58 km/h)
|
| Stop wind speed | 25m/sec (90 km/h)
|
| Wind generators | Vestas
|
|---|
| Tower height | 67m
|
|---|
| Tower construction | Tapered steel tube in 3 sections
|
| Tower weight | 117t
|
| Tower footings | App. 13 metres square reinforced
concrete app. 1.75m deep; weight 600t
|
| Rotor diameter | 66m
|
|---|
| Blade length | 33m
|
| Blades | Variable pitch; made of carbon fibre
reinforced plastic
|
| Weight of rotor and blades | 23 tonnes
|
|
|
| Location of Waubra Wind Farm
From the Acciona Net site
|
|
This wind farm is near the small town of Waubra about 30 km NW
of Ballarat on the Sunraysia Highway.
Part is on each side of the highway and many of the turbines can be seen
from the Western Highway west of Ballarat.
For an interactive map and/or directions to Waubra go to
ExplorOz.
|
|
Noise compliance problems?
It seems that the Waubra Wind Farm is slow in complying with noise level
requirements, as stressed in a speech in the Senate by John Madigan on
2013/12/10.
It is not clear whether the problem is with one or several turbines and/or
homes.
|
|
Waubra Wind Farm is owned by Acciona Wind Power, a sister company of
Acciona Energy,
and is the biggest wind farm AWP has yet built anywhere in the world.
Acciona Energy had a Net page on Waubra Wind Farm, including a location map, but it is no longer available.
There is an article in
Wikipedia.
It seems that ANZ Infrastructure Services and Origin may also be
part owner.
The Ballarat Courier announced on 2012/03/25 that the 48 air navigation
lights on the turbine towers were going to be switched off following
decisions from the Civil Aviation Authority and Minister for Planning
Matthew Guy.
Air navigation lights had previously been switched of at several SA wind
farms (Clements Gap, Hallett and Snowtown).
The Ballarat Courier reported on 2010/11/18 that a total of seven houses
in the wind farm area have been bought by Acciona.
Four were bought as an initial requirement of the project's planning permit.
Two were bought recently because nearby turbines were making more noise
than was stipulated in the planning permit.
In Feb. 2010 another property was bought from Victor and Trish Godfrey;
Ms Godfrey had complained of major
health
problems.
Before the building of
Macarthur WF several sources had
published that Waubra was the biggest Wind Farm in Australia.
In fact both the
Hallett (total of 420MW) and
Lake Bonney
(total of 278.5MW) are considerably bigger than the 192MW of Waubra.
Waubra was second to the Hallett wind farms (SA) in the amount of electricity
actually generated, as of mid 2012.
Waubra summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each
| Total MW | Capacity factor | Completion date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 128 | Acciona | AW 1500 | 1.5 | 192 | 37%
| Oct. 2009 | S 37.39° | E 143.63°
|
Completion was sometime from June to October, it seems that there was a
'launch' of the wind farm on 2009/10/06.
The capacity factor above was calculated from AEMO data, via
Andrew Miskelly's Web site,
for the period August 2009 to December 2012 inclusive.
|
|
| |
Construction at Waubra on a grey Ballarat morning
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Some of the Waubra turbines in November 2012
|
|
The turbines are in three configurations, the maximum height to the
blade tip being: 109.8m, 117.1m, and 119.8m.
Air navigation lights are installed on 48 of the 128 wind turbine
towers.
Some controversy
The
Waubra Wind Farm is one of
the Australian projects to receive a lot of news coverage, at least partly
because of the misleadingly named
Waubra Foundation.
Many of the residents of Waubra are annoyed by what they feel is the
misuse of the name of their town and are considering how they might restore
the situation.
Land values
Dr Sarah Laurie, the so called Medical Director (she is neither a registered
nor a
practicing doctor) and CEO of the Waubra Foundation, has claimed that
people have been forced to abandon their homes in the Waubra area by the
wind turbines.
In fact Pyrenees Shire Council records show rising land values in the Waubra
part of the Shire; this would not happen if the turbines were unpleasant to
live near.
In the Ballarat hearing of the Senate inquiry into the impact of wind farms
(2011/03/28) Councillor David Clark of the Pyrenees Shire Council said:
"We did a revaluation in early 2010, so six months after
Waubra wind farm was operating.
We did not see an effect on commercial agricultural land.
It had moved up and our belief is there were other factors driving the price
of that.
We did not see an effect on the nearby township of Waubra.
Prices again had moved up in the case of that township, which is about 1.2
to 1.5 kilometres away."
Two years later, in the Pyrenees Shire Council Meeting Minutes,
General Revaluation of Properties, 2012; of ten areas listed under
'Residentual Properties' Waubra shows the largest rise, 10.1%.
The average change of the remaining nine areas was a rise of 2.9%.
The valuations are done every two years.
More on land values and wind farms can be read
elsewhere.
Visiting Waubra Wind Farm
The town of Waubra is 30 km NW of Ballarat on the Sunraysia Highway (highway
121).
The wind farm can be seen from both the Sunraysia Highway and the Western
Highway, but there are several minor roads near Waubra
that can be used to get in among the turbines.
Acciona Energy is planning a wind farm viewing area on the Sunraysia
Highway in Waubra.
This will not be near any of the turbines and much more interesting
views will be available for those who get off the highway onto the side
roads.
|
|
| Generation record
|
|---|
| | Up to end 2012
| |
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Waubra
Wind Farm as recorded by AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) and
downloaded via the ALG (Australian Landscape Guardians) Net site.
The units are average megawatts generated month by month.
Acciona's March 2011 newsletter stated that Acciona provides $64 000
per annum to its community benefit fund; this is CPI indexed.
(this equals $500 per turbine per year.)
Further data on the Waubra Wind Farm...
| Civil works completed | September 2007
|
|---|
| First turbine parts to arrive on site | Nov./Dec. 2007
|
|---|
| Tower erection started | 17th Dec. 2007
|
|---|
| Nacelle erection started | 9th Jan. 2008
|
|---|
| Turbine model | Acciona Windpower 1.5MW
|
|---|
| Towers manufactured by | Keppel Prince Engineering (Portland) and
Haywards Engineering (Tasmania)
|
|---|
| Nacelles and hubs manufactured by | Acciona Windpower (Pamplona,
Spain)
|
|---|
| Blades manufactured by | Tecsis (Brazil)
|
|---|
| Project cost | Aus$326 million
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas saving | Estimated at 635 000 tonnes
CO2 p.a.
|
|---|
These informative videos were released around September 2013.
"Neil Barrett of Takone Projects has been researching the Waubra situation
over the past year.
Whilst his attempts to understand the issues raised by complainants are
on-going, it has become clear to him that the apparent good health and
well-being of the great majority of the community deserves to be more widely
known."
|
|
This report was prepared by Noise Measurement Services (Dr Bob Thorne)
for Mr and Mrs Noel Dean at a cost of, I believe, some $40 000.
Mr and Mrs Dean live, or lived, near the Waubra Wind Farm.
In the report Dr Thorn wrote that pulsing infrasound and low-frequency sound
was adversely affecting Mr Dean's health.
Sonus, a consultancy on acoustics engineering, prepared a review of 'The
Dean Report' for the Clean Energy Council.
The Sonus report concluded that Dr Thorn's report "cannot support its
findings, and presents evidence that is contrary to those findings.
The study does not include any of the minimum element required to make its
findings, and as such, is fundamentally flawed."
|
Proposed by Acciona, the builders of
Waubra Wind Farm, this farm was to be about
9 km NE of Waubra, near Evansford (and Clunes) and about 30 km NNW
of Ballarat.
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".
Waubra North summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | ? | ? | 75
| Summer 2012/13 | Approx. S 37.31° | E 143.74°
|
Capacity and construction date above given by AEMO (2010/04/08)
Also known as Inverleigh Wind Farm
This wind farm is proposed by International Power Australia.
It is proposed that this wind farm will be on Mt Pollock and 10 km
north-east of Winchelsea and about the same distance 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.
Winchelsea summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Approved | 14 | 2 | 28
| Undecided | S 38.17° | E 144.08°
|
| |
|
This section written 2013/09/14
|
|
This wind farm has been proposed between Hawkesdale and Orford by Wind
Prospect who have a
Net site detailing it.
The most recent addition to the Net site seems to have been 2013/09/13;
being a page of frequently asked questions.
Summary data, Willatook Wind Farm
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 145 | 3? | 435?
| Undecided | S 38.17° | E 142.19°
|
Additional data on Willatook Wind Farm
| Hub height | Up to 102m
|
|---|
| Rotor diameter | Up to 120m
|
|---|
| Height to blade tip | Up to 152m
|
|---|
|
|
Turbines of Wonthaggi Wind Farm
|
Wonthaggi Wind Farm is about 100 km SE of Melbourne, 75 km NW of
Wilsons Promontory and 3 km west of Wonthaggi town center in Gippsland,
Victoria.
It is owned by Origin, through Wind Power who had a Net
on the wind farm, but seem to have removed it.
For an interactive map and/or directions to Wonthaggi go to
ExplorOz.
One blade of one of the turbines was broken on 2012/03/21,
apparently struck by lightning.
See Yes2Renewables for more information.
Wonthaggi summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each | Total MW
| Annual production | Commissioned | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 6 | REpower | MM82 | 2 | 12 | 34GWh expected
| December 2005 | S 38.60° | E 145.55°
|
|
An example wind power generation graph, this one for August 2007,
from Wonthaggi, Victoria.
Acknowledgement Wind Power
|
Visiting Wonthaggi Wind Farm
The foot of one turbine can be reached from Wonthaggi via Campbell and
Baxter Roads, but it is necessary to go through a couple of gates.
A fair view can also be obtained from a hill of mine waste via West Area
Road; about Lat. S 38.59°, Long. E 145.55°.
More information on Wonthaggi
| Project cost | Aus$20.4 million
|
|---|
| Greenhouse gas saving | Estimated at 47 830 tonnes
CO2 p.a.
|
|---|
| Average wind speed at site | 8.2m/sec.
|
|---|
| Actual generation in 2006 | 28.4GWh
|
|---|
| Capacity factor for 2006 | 27%
|
|---|
| |
| Location
|
|---|
| | Map credit: Wind Farm Developments, NZ
| |
Proposed by Windfarm Developments (who have a Net
page on the project),
this wind farm is to be built 16 km north
of Warrnambool and about 2 km west of the township of Woolsthorpe.
An anemometry mast was erected in July 2002 and the Minister for Planning
approved the farm in April 2008.
Forced commencement
This is one of several Victorian wind farms where construction had to start
by mid March 2012 or approval would have to be sought again under the
new laws.
Approval under the new laws would be very unlikely.
However, serious construction has not started.
|
Woolsthorpe summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction date | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Proposed | 20 | 2 | Approx. 40
| Unknown | Approx. S 38.18° | E 142.40°
|
I inquired of Wind Farm Developments for a completion date on
2012/03/25
Also called Yaloak South Wind Farm
| |
Update, 2018/04/26
I have been informed by Pacific Hydro that construction is substantially completed.
|
|
Yaloak is near Ballan in western Victoria.
Ballan is 33 km east of Ballarat and 68 km west of Melbourne.
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."
The modified project was eventually approved by the Victorian Government in
late October 2010.
Yaloak summary data
| Status | # Turbines | MW each | Total MW
| Construction start | Completed | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 14 | 2.05 | 28.7 | Late 2016 | April 2018 | Approx. S 37.61° | E 144.23°
|
Pacific Hydro announced in August 2017 that a community fund of $28,000 per
year would be provided.
I must thank Robert Ongley for keeping me informed about the progress of the wind farm.
| |
| |
Yambuk Wind Farm
|
|
Yambuk, commissioned in 2007, is the first of an intended four stages in
the big Portland Wind Energy Project.
For an interactive map and/or directions to Yambuk go to
ExplorOz.
Pacific Hydro has a Net site on the
Wind Farm.
Visiting Yambuk
While the Princes Highway passes within a few kilometres of the wind farm
it is not possible to get close to the turbines on any public roads.
A road from the township of Yambuk to some coastal lakes provides a fair
view of the south-eastern end of the wind farm.
The photo on the right was taken from this area.
Note that this wind farm is adjacent to Codrington Wind Farm, with no
obvious boundary between the two.
Yambuk summary data
| Status | # Turbines | Manufacturer | Model | MW each
| Total MW | Commissioned | Capacity factor | Lat. | Long.
|
|---|
| Operating | 20 | NEG Micon | NM72C | 1.5 | 30 | May 2007
| 31% | App. S 38.33° | App. E 142.04°
|
Capacity factor calculated from AEMO data, from January 2009 to
December 2012 inclusive, via Andrew Miskelly's Net pages.
Yambuk Wind Farm is located adjacent to the older Codrington Wind Farm and
about 15 km west of Port Fairy.
The information in these tables came from a variety of sources including
Pacific Hydro.
|
|
| Generation record
|
|---|
| | Up to end 2012
| |
The graph on the right shows the power generation record for Yambuk
Wind Farm as recorded by AEMO (Australian Energy Market Operator) and
downloaded via the ALG (Australian Landscape Guardians) Net site.
The units are average megawatts generated month by month.
I calculated, from AEMO/ALG data, that 73GWh were generated in 2009.
Further Yambuk data from Pacific Hydro...
| Annual production | Greater than 90 GWh expected
|
|---|
| Average annual wind speed | 8.3 m/sec. (30 km/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.
|
|---|
