General News
5 August, 2024
Yet another wind farm approved for the Wimmera
Horsham has become a hub for renewable projects.
The Federal government has approved another wind farm in the Wimmera.
The Wimmera Plains Energy Facility is 10km north-east of Horsham and will include up to 52 wind turbines.
Horsham's new Wimmera Plains Energy Facility is adjacent the small Jung Wind Farm and south of the 61 turbine-Murra Warra Wind Farm.
The Avonbanks mineral sands mine is proposed to be located just to the south of the project.
The new wind farm is under the control of BayWa r.e. which is from Germany (BayWa Group) but already has substantial renewable projects in Australia.
The Wimmera Plains Energy Facility has plans for wind turbines with a blade-tip height of 247 metres above the ground.
The site for this latest project is on land both to the east and west of the Henty Highway on about 3800 hectares (9390 acres) of cleared cropping country.
That land is to be leased from existing farmers.
The project's designers say less than a hectare of native navigation will be disturbed as a result of the development.
In its permit applications, BayWa r.e. outlined its decision to choose the Wimmera farmland for the project.
"It receives undisturbed wind flow with strong, consistent wind speeds.
"It is relatively distant from residences, tourist attractions and major roadways.
"The predominant land use is cropping, meaning there will be minimal effects on sensitive flora or fauna.
"It is in close proximity to the national electrical grid and it is well served by road infrastructure."
Most importantly, the 312 megawatt facility has immediate access to an existing 220 kilovolt transmission line.
The project also includes a 100MW battery which can store up to 400 megawatt-hours of dispatchable energy.
In announcing the success of the project, Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said the project would support up to 280 direct jobs in construction and up to 10 ongoing jobs.
"The project demonstrates how good site selection can lead to faster environmental approvals," she said.
"Projects need to be placed in the right areas and designed so that their environmental impacts are minimised - as is the case with this wind farm."
In other renewable moves in the Wimmera, WestWind Energy wants to build around 100km of transmission lines to connect renewable energy projects to the national grid.
The lines would run from Warracknabeal to Bulgana, near Ararat although no exact route has yet been finalised.
There has already been a rural revolt over plans from AusNet to build the Western Renewables link across 190km from Melbourne's outer suburbs to Bulgana.