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 the 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 subjected 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 Total 132MW Data up to end 2012

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 [was] currently being progressed" at the Ararat wind farm; I'm not at all sure what this meant.

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.

Acciona stated that it would comply with Victorian Government requirements for turbines to be at least two kilometres from residences.

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".

Thomas Mitchell of UF informed me (2012/10/25) that GHD Group had been appointed to proceed with the geotechnical investigation and survey at the wind farm. This is needed to discover foundation conditions and permit a decision on the type of footings that will be needed for the turbine towers.

Cape Nelson Wind Farm

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 is "yet to be investment sanctioned" by Pacific Hydro, and as of 2009/06/09 the size and type of turbine had not been decided.

On 2008/09/10 Pacific Hydro announced that they are going to build only 27 turbines rather than the originally planned 58 at Cape Nelson "because of improvements in turbine technology". The turbine layout map for Cape Nelson North, downloadable from the Pacific Hydro Net site, shows eleven turbines.

On 2012/07/31 I was informed by Jillian Adams of Pacific Hydro that they are "hopeful that construction [of Cape Nelson North and Cape Sir William Grant] will commence in the next 12 months".

Community funding

Cape Sir William Grant is "yet to be investment sanctioned" by Pacific Hydro.

On 2012/07/31 I was informed by Jillian Adams of Pacific Hydro that they are "hopeful that construction [of Cape Sir William Grant and Cape Nelson North] will commence in the next 12 months".

Pacific Hydro has a Net site on the Wind Farm.

Chepstowe Wind Farm

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 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 power line so there are no sub-stations."

It was rejected by Mitchell Shire on the grounds that it "failed to demonstrate a net community benifit". It seems that the shire's planning staff recommended that the project be approved. This issue will be pursued in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal beginning in the end of January 2013.

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).

Some of the data below was from Dept. Primary Industry, Victoria. There seems to have been no activity on this project for several years.

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.

Hawkesdale Wind Farm Map credit Union Fenosa Wind Australia

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."

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%.

Community funding

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.

I've heard on the grapevine that Origin have decided to not procede with this project (2012/08/28).

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

Location of Mortlake wind farms Map credit Acciona

Acciona has a 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 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

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".

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.

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.

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. Meridian, on 2012/09/03, announced that construction will start in December and will take approximately two years. It was announced on 2013/01/17 that construction had started.

REpower Australia (a Suzlon Group company) will be supplying and installing the turbines.

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 electricity substation. This is the only recent sign of activity on this project that I have come across.

On 2012/09/03 Reneweconomy reported that Meridian was to go ahead with this project without a power purchase agreement.

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.)

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."

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 end 2012

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!

Ryan Corner Wind Farm Map credit Union Fenosa Wind Australia

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 12km 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 and Hawkesdale combined into one project

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

ABC On-line News carried an article dated 2012/02/29 which said that Moyne Council had approved amended permits the previous night.

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 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"

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."

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

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.

The Dean Report

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."

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 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.

Turbines of Wonthaggi Wind Farm

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.

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

Visiting Wonthaggi Wind Farm

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

In March 2012 Planning Minister Matthew Guy announced that construction had commenced.

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

Pacific Hydro has a Net site on the Wind Farm.

Visiting Yambuk

Note that this wind farm is adjacent to Codrington Wind Farm, with no obvious boundary between the two.

Yambuk Wind Farm is located adjacent to the older Codrington Wind Farm and about 15km west of Port Fairy. The information in these tables came from a variety of sources including Pacific Hydro.

Generation record Up to end 2012

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 wishful thinking and is not worth covering in more detail than that below.

Wind farms that have been proposed in Victoria

Victorian Wind Alliance; also on Facebook. This is a wind power support group launched in mid October, 2012.

Index