Tasmanian wind farm providing jobs, while conventional farming continues, too
Premier Lara Giddings, who yesterday visited the site, said 200 jobs over 18 months was a welcome boost for an area hit hard by the forestry downturn.
Wind farm has plenty of puff http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/05/04/325101_tasmania-news.html BRUCE MOUNSTER | May 04, 2012 YOU just have to look at the trees.. Then, says Hydro Tasmania chief executive Roy Adair, it’s easy to see why the Cape Portland property on Tasmania’s far north-east tip, is considered one of the best wind farm sites in Australia. “The configuration of the trees and the way that they are heavily leaning to one side,” he said.
The 550ha beef, dairy and former woolgrowing property is home to the 56 turbine Musselroe wind farm, now under construction after an eight year gestation.
Mr Adair said the delays, as Hydro waited for finalisation of the
Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target Scheme, had been a
blessing.
The green light for the $400 million project coincided with Europe’s
financial debacle – an opportunity for Hydro to pull off a great
turbine deal, with hard-pressed Danish builder Vestas. The wind
turbines will stretch 18km across the Cape Portland property from east
to west.
They will be connected to a control building by 60km of underground
cable. Mr Adair said buying the property in 2009, rather than working
with an existing owner, enabled Hydro to put its giant turbines with
hub heights of 80m and a 45m blade radius and each producing 3MW of
power where it wanted.
He said Hydro wasn’t troubled by Aboriginal heritage, environmental
and ecological dilemmas which had plagued recent Tasmanian
developments.
He said there had been several situations where turbines, as well as
the 50km transmission line to Derby, had been on a collision course
with sensitive sites.
“We just moved them,” he said.
Project manager Justin Cooper said the construction workforce was this
month ramping up to a peak of 200, temporarily tripling the size of
Gladstone, the nearest town.
Premier Lara Giddings, who yesterday visited the site, said 200 jobs over 18 months was a welcome boost for an area hit hard by the forestry downturn.
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1.This month.
The Road to War brings a sharp focus to why it is not in Australia’s best interest to be dragged into a war with China which will almost inevitably go nuclear very quickly. The filmmaker has interviewed some of Australia’s senior foreign policy analysts who have vast experience behind them in analysing what really is going on here as the United States rattles its sabres with China. And sets us up to be its proxy, like the poor Ukranians have been fed into the Meatgrinder. So America can remain the Top Dog. The Road to War reveals how the United States through its spy base at Pine Gap and by stationing six nuclear capable B52 bombers in the Top End (without permission from the traditional owners) is making Australia a prime nuclear target if the current war of words suddenly melts down into full scale war.
The Road to War shows the implicit connection between Carbon emissions (the US military uses a whopping 70% of America’s annual petroleum to move its armies and vast War Machine around the globe to its 800+ military bases..but under a loophole wangled at Kyoto, the US military does not have to report its C02 annual emissions). The Road to War starts screening at selected cities and regional centres in March. See the trailer end for details.
Antinuclear 
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