|
nghenvironmental has been involved in the assessment of four proposed wind farm developments in New South Wales, all proposed by Taurus Energy. The locations of these proposals are: - Snowy Plains (near Berridale),
- Conroys Gap (near Yass)
- Cullerin and Evandale (both near Goulburn).
These proposals are all for medium sized windfarms (up to 30 megawatts) located in rural landscapes where grazing could continue simultaneously with the operation of the windfarm.
The proposed Snowy Plains Wind Farm has been approved for development by the Snowy River Shire Council. The remaining windfarms are assessed as Part 3A (of Environmental Planning and Assessment Act) ‘Major Projects’, requiring the approval of the NSW Minister for Planning. You can view Taurus projects currently on public exhibition at www.taurusenergy.com.au.
While windfarms have great benefits for the generation of emission-free electricity, reducing the requirement for potable water (when compared to coal-fired power plants) and creating more localised and diverse power sources (thereby increasing security of supply), they also have the potential for unique environmental impacts that must be assessed and mitigated. Some of these are discussed below.
Community wellbeing
Consultation with the local community early in the project is essential to take on board local interests and to discuss specific impacts with the community. Windfarm proposals can be divisive and it is necessary to deal with the inequity that may result from a small number of landowners receiving the lion’s share of the financial benefit. This inequity can be addressed through the establishment of community funds, through road and other service upgrades, or even through a co-operative profit sharing arrangement.
Often, smaller scale developments can be more acceptable to a local community, having reduced visual and acoustic impacts. They may also allow for a greater level of investment by the local community. A cooperative economic model has the benefit of increasing public ownership and involvement as well as increasing the percentage of profit that the local community receives from the development. Under such an arrangement, the venture would need to raise 30-40% of the project capital for the equity component. For a 5 turbine (10MW) wind farm, this would equate to around $8-9 million.
Visual impact
The turbines Taurus considered for these projects stand 126m tall. While they are more efficient than small turbines they are also more visible. They can be seen from 10km away and dominate the landscape at around 5km.
Local communities often have polarised perceptions about their look. Whether they are an ‘industrial blight on the landscape’ or a ‘symbol of a clean energy future’ is a matter of personal opinion.
Noise impact
The ‘swooshing’ of the operational turbines is audible up to 2km from a turbine, dependant on background noise and wind conditions. Mechanical noise from the engines is also audible at close range. While the low frequency ‘thumping’ that was characteristic of earlier designs has been assessed as a non-issue in modern designs, there is still ongoing debate in NSW about how noise modeling and monitoring should be undertaken to assess impacts on nearby residences.
Biodiversity impact
Inappropriately sited wind farms can be the cause of ongoing bird and bat mortalities through collisions with turbines. Part of the assessment process involves looking for migration paths and colonial roosting bat roosts and other features such as waterbodies that may attract large numbers of individuals to the site. Ongoing collisions can have a ‘population level’ effect on a species and, particularly for species that are already listed as threatened, may increase the chances of local extinction.
Adaptive management monitoring programs are recommended to accompany operational wind farms. The monitoring program would document the collision impacts and, at a pre-determined threshold, would instigate preventative action, such as turning the turbines off during a certain time periods.
Other impacts
Other impacts that are assessed include soil and landforms, water quality and site hydrology, Aboriginal archaeology, cultural heritage, land value impacts, compatibility with existing and nearby land uses, potential for interference with local traffic (during the construction phase), telecommunications and air traffic. Cumulative impacts with other local wind farms or large infrastructure developments are also taken into account.
Environmental management
The construction and operation of a medium sized wind farm is likely to require an Environmental Management Plan. The plan may be divided into different sections relating to the different activities that will occur onsite. It may define ‘no go’ areas (on the basis of habitat values, archaeological sensitivity or potential for erosion, for example). It may establish targets and monitoring procedures for noise, construction traffic and site rehabilitation. It should be auditable and reports will be required at regular intervals to inform the consent authority (usually the Department of Planning) of the environmental performance of the project.
Windfarm future
Appropriate windfarm siting can mitigate many potential impacts including impacts to soils and landforms, biodiversity, cultural heritage and local communities. However, windfarms are only practical where wind is strong and regular and where there is reasonable access to existing electricity connections and transport infrastructure.
NSW has an excellent wind power potential, estimated to be over 100 megawatt of wind energy. Suitable sites in NSW are related to the topography of the Great Dividing Range which interacts with the calmer inland winds (www.deus.nsw.gov.au). A wind map produced by DEUS shows the differences in wind speed across the state, as recorded by the NSW Wind Atlas. In addition, NSW has an extensive electricity transmission and transport network, making sites around the Southern Tablelands popular in terms of new proposals.
|
