Victorians now being won over to wind energy?
Two weeks after the forum in Seymour, VCAT finally approved Cherry Tree. It is now only the second wind farm to win planning permission in Victoria since August 2011.
Against the wind The Age, December 19, 2013 Michael Green Planning restrictions and health fears have left Victorians reluctant to embrace wind power. But this may be changing. Gwenda Allgood is a no-nonsense local councillor, five times a mayor, from Ararat. In mid-November she travelled east to Seymour to speak about wind farms at a forum on energy held in the bowls club hall.
“We did not have one objection,” she told the audience, explaining the benefits of the Challicum Hills wind farm, built in 2003. “I can only speak as I find: there is no noise [from the turbines]. I don’t know why, but there isn’t. And they’re our best ratepayer – they pay well, they really do.” Continue reading
Victorian Aged Care Facility to get grid-connected solar power
Yingli Green Energy Hold. Co. Ltd. (ADR) : EnviroGroup Installs Australia’s Largest Grid-Connected Enphase Microinverter Project in Conjunction with Yingli Solar, 4 Traders Group, 12/11/2013 |Glenlyn Aged Care Facility to power 50 percent of its energy needs with solar power
Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENPH), today announced that EnviroGroup, a specialist provider of renewable energy products and systems for commercial applications, government clients and residential home owners, has successfully installed Australia’s largest grid-connected solar power system with Enphase microinverters, in conjunction with Yingli Green Energy, known as “Yingli Solar”, at the Glenlyn Aged Care Facility in Glenroy, Victoria.
This 100kW installation is expected to generate over 392kWh of solar energy daily – which is approximately 50 percent of Glenlyn’s electricity requirements – to power the center’s operational and cooling facilities, particularly in periods of peak daytime demand……….http://www.4-traders.com/YINGLI-GREEN-ENERGY-HOLD-52545/news/Yingli-Green-Energy-Hold-Co-Ltd-ADR–EnviroGroup-Installs-Australias-Largest-Grid-Connected-E-17603508/
A win for local communities as Tribunal finds wind farms are not harmful to health
Wind farm ruling a win for communities: Clean energy group http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/wind-farm-health-findings-a-win-for-communities/5120036 ABC Rural By Babs McHugh The Clean Energy Council says the latest rejection of claims of negative health effects of wind farms is adding more certainty to the future of the industry for investors.
The Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has approved a 16-turbine wind farm at Trawool, north of Melbourne, after finding there’s no evidence they have adverse effects on health and well being. Director of policy with the Clean Energy Council, Russell Marsh, says he wasn’t surprised by the findings. “Pretty much every wind farm that’s been proposed in recent years has been opposed on grounds of adverse health effects.
“What we’ve seen in the last 24 hours is that there’s yet more evidence to show that those claims are unfounded. “New South Wales and Victorian state health bodies, and federal departments also, have found there’s no scientific evidence to back up claims of ill- health effects, physical and psychological.
“And this is backed up by a noise study for the Waterloo wind farm released yesterday by the South Australian Environmental Protection Agency. “That found the noise from the wind farm fell below the thresholds set under the planning conditions.
“Also, the rumbling noise that some residents complained about (in diaries they were asked to keep) was present at times when the wind farm was switched off.” Mr Marsh says it’s not only wind farm operators who these findings benefit. “It is a significant win for the industry, but also for communities who live near wind farms. “Yet again, this is showing that when these adverse health (claims) are tested, they don’t stack up.
“So communities shouldn’t be concerned about a wind farm being located near them.”
Victorian Wind Farm gets the All Clear to Go Ahead
Cherry Tree wind farm gets go ahead in Victoria ABC Rural By Babs McHugh 27 Nov 2013, The Victoria Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has approved a wind farm after finding there’s no evidence wind farms have adverse effects on health and wellbeing. Infigen Energy’s proposal for a 16-turbine wind farm near Seymour, north of Melbourne, was rejected by the Mitchell Shire Council, which said there were widespread health concerns.
The council said it had received more than 100 objections to the project in the Trawool Valley, which also raised concerns about disruption to the landscape.
Infigen appealed the decision to the VCAT, and the Cherry Tree Wind Farm is now the first to be given the go-ahead under the Victorian Government’s new planning laws for wind farms which were introduced in 2011.
The Tribunal used information from the New South Wales and the Victorian health departments that shows there’s no scientific evidence to link wind turbines with adverse health effects or support claims that inaudible sound can have psychological effects……. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-27/wind-farm-go-ahead-victoria/5119518
Waubra residents dissociate themselves from anti wind farm group
Waubra Wednesday #9 – Community demands its name back from anti-wind farm group On 1 November 2013, the Waubra community ramped up its campaign to reclaim its name from an anti-wind farm campaign group known as the Waubra Foundation. Yes 2 Renewables November 6, 2013 by Leigh Ewbank Fed up with the town’s name being tarnished by claims of a ‘Waubra disease‘, community leaders have sent a petition with 316 signatures to the anti-wind farm organisation asking them to stop using town’s name. Yes 2 Renewables applaud the community’s effort on the issue.
“Waubra is associated with wind towers. We don’t mind that,” Waubra wind farmer Doug Hobson told The Courier. “With the turbines people actually take more notice of our town as they pass through.
“But when you Google ‘Waubra’ the first thing that comes up is something negative about our town. People would think that everyone in Waubra doesn’t like wind farms, and that is not the case,” Hobson added.
The petition was sent to the Waubra Foundation just days after they announced more anti-wind farm campaigners to positions in the organisation, such as retired Liberal MP Alby Schultz who is slated to lobby the Abbott government. Yes 2 Renewables commented on the appointments at Climate Spectator.
It’s clear the Waubra Foundation has no credible claim to use the town’s name. Yet will the Foundation heed the wishes of community members or will it ignore them? Time will tell. For now, Yes 2 Renewables will keep an eye on the situation…….
Petition Text……
Cover Letter sent with the petition….
Australian company Silex in solar and nuclear developments
enriched uranium demand would remain depressed in the next two to three years due to the shutdown of nuclear plants after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster i
China solar backers sought in Australia, South China Morning Post Silex, claiming a technology edge, is talking to state-backed power generators for investment in an expansion of a major solar farm project Eric Ng eric.mpng@scmp.com 05 November, 2013 Silex Systems, an Australian solar energy and nuclear fuel enrichment technology firm, is in talks with Chinese state-backed power generators to invest in its major solar farm project in Australia and buy its equipment to develop projects in China.
The company, listed in Australia and the United States, commissioned a 1.5 megawatts solar farm in Victoria in July, and plans to build a 100MW expansion project on the same site late next year.
Its 1.5MW plant is Australia’s first grid-connected solar farm based on so-called concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) technology.
Silex chief executive Michael Goldsworthy said the company had started talks with two of the mainland’s five state-owned power generation groups about investing in the proposed 100MW project, and for them to buy equipment from Silex to develop solar farms on the mainland. Continue reading
AUDIO: Farmers and householders can benefit from Mildura area’s renewable energy developments
North west Victoria tapping into renewable energy http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-04/ag-energy-victoria/5067808Vic Country Hour By Brett Worthington Nov 2013, Victoria’s north west is quickly developing a reputation as the state’s clean energy heartland.
Near Mildura, there are plans to build a power plant that uses waste from almond, grape and grain growing. Just meters away is a 
one of Australia’s largest solar electricity plants, which features satellite dishes covered in mirrors.
Melbourne University researcher David Coote says agricultural communities can slash their bills if they embrace renewable technology. “Somewhere like Mildura could easily target going 100 per cent renewable,” he said. Continue reading
Climate change means longer bushfire season for South East Australia
Scientists warn bushfire season getting longer The Age, October 19, 2013 Craig Butt, Lara O’Toole A bushfire season that starts in spring and stretches well into autumn will be the new norm for Australia’s south-east, according to scientists.
Melbourne University research fellow in climate science Sophie Lewis said catastrophic events such as the fires in NSW should come as no surprise, due to a dry winter and the ongoing effects of climate change.
The past 12 months have been the warmest documented, while 2013 is set to go down as the hottest calendar year in Australia.
”Now is the time we need to plan for a longer fire season,” Dr Lewis said. ”It’s something we’re going to expect, looking to the future.”
Shadowing becoming a legal issue, in Melbourne’s solar rooftop boom
The Clean Energy Council said it was the perfect time for new laws to be introduced so new buildings did not hamper the energy efficiency of their neighbours.
Solar review casts shadow on high-rises http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/solar-review-casts-shadow-on-highrises-20131007-2v4bs.html October 8, 2013 Aisha Dow Developers may be prevented from building high-rises that block sunlight from hitting solar panels on buildings in central Melbourne, under new rules being considered by the state government.
The Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure is reviewing planning and building provisions that affect solar panel placement and overshadowing. A department spokesman said the review would decide whether there is need for reform, with any changes to be part of the new Metropolitan Planning Strategy.
The move comes as a new study shows Melbourne’s inner-city rooftops could host enough solar panels to power 10,000 houses.They found that even if only 20 per cent of roof space was covered by panels it would be enough to host the equivalent of 100 large solar parks.
Councillor and sustainable business expert Arron Wood said the figure would be much higher if they had also audited high-rise towers and business and apartment buildings in the central city. But concerns about the sun being blocked by new construction in the CBD led the council to limit its scoping study. Cr Wood said there needed to be stronger government policy on the shadowing of solar panels.
”It’s also another reason why we should stick to the mandatory building height limits, and that’s something we have considered,” he said.
Last year a proposal to build two double-storey houses in Kensington was rejected by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal after a neighbour complained the structure would partially eclipse his rooftop panels. VCAT called for clearer guidelines for determining acceptable levels of overshadowing. Continue reading
Local Councils and ratepayers may be interested in contributing to Climate Council
Ratepayers may pay for Tim Flannery Climate Council JOHN MASANAUSKAS HERALD SUN OCTOBER 08, 2013 COUNCILS may volunteer their ratepayers’ money to help prop up a climate advisory group axed by the Abbott Government.Some local councils are considering whether to donate to the new Climate Council, led by controversial scientist Professor Tim Flannery.
Prof Flannery was formerly in charge of the federal Climate Commission, which was relaunched as the Climate Council after the new Government abolished it. The Council is being funded through public donations; about $1 million has been raised so far.
The inner city Yarra Council will vote on Tuesday night on a motion to donate funds and join the Climate Council as a “founding friend”.Greens councillor Amanda Stone, who is putting the motion, said it would be up to councillors to decide if and how much to donate.
“Given that Yarra Council is a leader in addressing climate change at the local level it’s highly appropriate that we express support in a symbolic perhaps more than in a very concrete way,” she said. “I wouldn’t imagine it would be a huge amount.”…….
Cr Stone said she understood that a similar motion to go before Moreland Council had suggested a $1000 donation.
“Given that the vast majority of climate scientists are agreed on the science and the implications for people on this planet, it’s absolutely vital that there’s an independent source of accurate information there for people to access,” she said.
Cr Stone said she was confident Yarra ratepayers would support the gesture as there was strong support for the council’s policies on sustainability and climate change……….Yarra claims to be the first Victorian council to achieve carbon neutrality. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/ratepayers-may-pay-for-tim-flannery-climate-council/story-fni0fiyv-1226734337554
Community owned energy – the success story of Hepburn Wind farm, Victoria
”We’ve developed a model for community wind and a model for community solar energy,” she explains. ”There are about 70 different groups [in] Australia interested in developing … projects.”
Hepburn co-op sailing with the wind September 29, 2013 Michael Green There’s lots of energy behind locally owned wind power. http://theage.domain.com.au/real-estate-news/hepburn-coop-sailing-with-the-wind-20130928-2ula1.html Late last summer, Melbourne artist Ghostpatrol spent a week manoeuvring a crane in a paddock in Leonards Hill. With a small team, he painted a huge image of a girl dressed in green on one of the two wind turbines that comprise the Hepburn Wind farm, near Daylesford.
The artists camped under the turbine. They had to rise early to paint before the wind picked up, and for good reason: the girl’s name – and the turbine’s, too – is Gale. .The community-owned wind farm has now been operating for more than two years. It has produced more than 22 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy, which more than matches the amount used by households in Daylesford and Hepburn.
Taryn Lane, Hepburn Wind’s community officer, conducts regular tours for school groups and university students. ”We’re the closest wind farm to Melbourne,” she says. ”We believe we’ve got a big role to play in helping to demystify wind power.”
Giving Gale a personality has helped with that, and so, too, will a new sign on the road at the front of the wind farm, which will click over with every kilowatt-hour the turbines produce. ”It will address the myth that wind energy is unreliable. Although it’s intermittent, it is really predictable,” she says. As well as electricity, the turbines generate money for the community. So far, more than three-dozen projects – from solar streetlights to public seating – have received a total of $72,000. Continue reading
Quality evidence for Victoria- that wind farms do not damage health
Our own Victorian Department of Health published its findings on the matter in Wind farms, sound and health in April 2013. It rules out the potential for wind farms to have damaging effects…..Wind farm infrasound is at levels well below the hearing threshold, and evidence does not support claims that inaudible sounds can have direct physiological effects. Put simply: what we can’t hear can’t harm us.
Wind farms: What we can’t hear, can’t harm http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/wind-farms-what-we-cant-hear-cant-harm-34870 By Sarah Durrant on 27 September 2013 In a new analysis, the Australian Energy Market Operator estimates Victoria will have 4,090 MW of new wind energy capacity installed by 2020. Those who support more renewables in the energy mix will welcome the forecast, yet it may be optimistic.
Today (Friday September 27), the Victorian Civil Administration Tribunal (VCAT) will resume the decision making process on the Cherry Tree Range wind farm proposed for central Victoria. Despite meeting the world’s strictest wind farm planning laws and laying outside the multitude of no-go zones imposed by the Baillieu government, the project could be thwarted. By what? The self interest and pseudo-science trumpeted by anti-wind farm groups.
The fate of the Cherry Tree Range wind farm is a test case for wind energy in Victoria. If it’s approved then there’s hope Victoria will achieve the high-penetration of wind energy AEMO predict by the end of the decade.
VCAT adjourned with an interim determination in April, finding the permit application was in accordance with all the planning considerations that the Mitchell Shire had contested. However the Tribunal decided it would await the outcome of an EPA SA study into alleged noise complaints at Waterloo wind farm, and also a newreview by the National Health and Medical Research Council.
VCAT left us to ponder the question: whether there is a causal link between sound pressure emissions from wind turbines and adverse health effects of a physiological nature.
BEAM Mitchell Environment Group – a local community group of which I’m a member – has taken a look at some of the most recent Australia/NZ sourced evidence to demonstrate that our support for the Cherry Tree project is backed up by quality evidence. Continue reading
Film ‘The Way The Wind Blows’ counters the myths about Waubra wind farm
The truth about Waubra… Locals set record straight on wind farm http://yes2renewables.org/2013/09/20/the-truth-about-waubra/#comment-39331 Those who have followed the rollout of wind energy in Australia would have heard of the quaint Victorian town of Waubra–the location of one of Australia’s largest wind farms. Producing enough clean electricity to for 143,000 households, more than enough to power Ballarat, Waubra’s 128 wind turbines offset a massive 635,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year which would have been generated by burning coal in the LaTrobe Valley.
While the town should be known for its leadership role addressing climate change and repowering Australia with renewable energy, its name has been tarnished by anti-wind farm lobbyists.
In 2010, the Waubra Foundation was formed by Peter Mitchell–a fossil fuel investor and wind farm opponent–and has unleashed a scare campaign about the alleged health risk of wind energy ever since. The organisation coopted the town’s name without consent of it residents. Unfortunately for locals, the town is linked to a so-called wind farm noise disease rather than its strong community and quality produce.
This all could be about the change.
Over a year in the making, independent filmmaker Neil Barrett has interviewed wind farmers, neighbours and locals to get to the bottom of the negative claims surrounding the project. Barratt has produced a short film entitles The Way The Wind Blows which counters the myths and gives locals a voice for the first time. The short film is a must view.
Dan Tehan, Liberal MP for Wannon urged to save jobs, business, by keeping Clean Energy Finance Corporation
MP urged to help save clean energy fund ABC News, 19 Sep 2013, The Victorian Wind Alliance is calling on the Liberal Member for Wannon, Dan Tehan, to help stop the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) from being axed.
The Federal Government’s ministry was sworn in yesterday and it is understood legislation to abolish the clean energy fund is to be drafted immediately.The corporation recently granted a loan to a Portland wind project by Pacific Hydro and renewable energy businesses are concerned their projects will no longer get the investment needed.
Andrew Bray of the Victorian Wind Alliance says a strong industry has developed in Victoria’s south-west and Mr Tehan should move to protect that.
“For the Government to be moving in this way, in a way that’s so contrary to this area is not really a good look,” he said. “So we would really like to see Dan Tehan take up the fight for south-west Victoria, from within Government.
“We think there’s room for them, now they’re in Government, [to] adjust some of their thinking on this.” Keppel Prince Engineering general manager Steve Garner says the corporation has helped renewable energy projects be approved faster.
He says without the grants, business may drop off. “That’s the impact that we would see, is a lull between projects and if that happens then we really do have to assess whether this business is something we want remain in, because it has huge costs and huge impact on us,” he said.
“It’s disappointing that the Liberal National Party are continuing with this push to try and abolish the CEFC,” he said.
“I’m hopeful that those people are able to convince the Libs of a different position because I see them as an absolute asset for Australian manufacturing, Australian jobs and for getting the country moving in relation to renewable energy.”……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-19/mp-urged-to-help-save-clean-energy-fund/4967196
Pacific Hydro will go it alone, believing in its Portland Wind Project.
Clean energy providers bypassing the big power retailers CRIKEY, TRISTAN EDIS | SEP 17, 2013 Pacific Hydro’s wind farm will be financed without a big power retailer involved. Is this the future or just a last hurrah for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation? Pacific Hydro announced last week it will construct the 47 megawatts final stage of the Portland Wind Project. The size of the wind farm is nothing exceptional, but the way it is commercially structured is: this wind farm is one of very few constructed without a major energy retailer involved either as the owner, or as a 10-year-plus purchaser of the output.
Generally wind farms are developed with energy retailers involved. That’s because they substantially reduce the risk of the project by providing a fixed price for output, bypassing wholesale electricity and renewable energy certificate markets which can be extremely volatile………
Pacific Hydro has decided to take a punt that market fundamentals will eventually prevail. It’s worth noting they’ve done this with $70 million in finance from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. The CEFC’s mandate includes adopting the presumption that politicians don’t fiddle with the law of the land.
Will other financiers be quite so brave now the CEFC has been ordered to shut down? http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/09/17/clean-energy-providers-bypassing-the-big-power-retailers/?wpmp_switcher=mobile
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