Victoria’s very large wind farm will be operational in early 2013
AGL readies biggest wind farm in southern hemisphere November 23, 2012 – AGL Energy, Australia’s largest operator of renewable energy projects, expects its $1 billion Macarthur wind farm to be operating fully in February as the country seeks to reduce it reliance on coal. “It’s on time, on budget and, in fact, may well be completed a little ahead of schedule,” Managing Director Michael Fraser said.
Sydney-based AGL and partner Meridian Energy are starting the 420-megawatt Macarthur project in Victoria, the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere, as Australia moves toward its goal of getting 20 per cent of its power from renewable energy by 2020.
The company expected Macarthur to be completed by the end of March 2013, Fraser said……
With natural gas prices on the east coast of Australia projected set to double and the government’s price on carbon emissions discouraging fossil fuels, the cost of gas-fired power stations may converge with that of wind farms, he said.
Australia in July started charging about 300 of its largest polluters a fixed price of $23 a ton for their carbon emissions. It plans a market-based system beginning in 2015.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/agl-readies-biggest-wind-farm-in-southern-hemisphere-20121123-29ubz.html#ixzz2D4V3rlIp
Victoria needs renewable energy planning (let’s kick Baillieu out)
Hot planning issue as solar left in shade, The Age November 18, 2012 Jason Dowling HOME owners are calling for solar panels to be protected with new planning rules and compensation should a neighbour build up and block sunlight to rooftops.
Victorian residents spending thousands of dollars installing solar power systems to offset escalating electricity prices now have no protection for their investment. There have been more than 142,000 roof-top solar systems installed in Victoria since 2000 – one in 15 Victorian homes now has solar panels.
The shading of solar panels as Melbourne’s housing density increases is becoming a hot planning issue.
Planning and building regulations protect north-facing windows and shading of back yards but do not specifically address the shading of solar panels…..
Stephen Ingrouille, owner of solar company Going Solar, said shading was occurring more frequently and could have a big impact on solar panels.
”The one thing they [solar panels] do need is direct sunlight and so they just have to be in full sun. And any shading, even shading over a portion of one corner of one cell can actually knock out a whole bank of cells – that’s the issue,” he said.
He said protection for solar panels through building and planning rules was needed.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/hot-planning-issue-as-solar-left-in-shade-20121117-29j1g.html#ixzz2ChetfaFZ
Still hope for Mallee solar energy, despite federal funds not available
“But we do have another solar power station under way with Silex Systems, as well as a number of other companies who have shown interest,”
Lights fade: $700m Mallee solar park misses out on federal funding
http://www.sunraysiadaily.com.au/story/962578/lights-fade-700m-mallee-solar-park-misses-out-on-federal-funding/?cs=1259 By Allan Murphy Nov. 13, 2012 PLANS for a $700 million Mallee solar park, described as one of the largest solar power station projects in the world, may be scuttled after the proposal again failed to attract federal funding.
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) yesterday said it would not pursue the EnergyAust-ralia (formerly TRUenergy) project despite an available funding increase of half a billion dollars.
The agency said it was forced to make “tough decisions” to increase renewable energy uptake in regional and remote Australia. Member for Mildura Peter Crisp last month said he was “genuinely worried” about EnergyAustralia’s bid to establish the Mallee Solar Park south of Mildura, despite the State Government committing $100 million towards
the proposal. Continue reading
Victorian Wind Alliance to express Victoria’s majority view and promote wind energy
Victorian Wind Alliance to promote industry http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2012/10/09/544954_latest-news.html Samantha Landy | October 9, 2012 A NEW organisation aimed at building support for wind energy in Victoria is set to launch tomorrow.
The Victorian Wind Alliance, made up of wind workers, landowners, environmental and community groups and anyone else who supports wind energy, hopes to promote the wind energy sector in the face of a halt in wind farm developments.”The premise is that the majority of Victorians and the majority of Australians support the development of
renewable energy,” Friends of the Earth campaigns co-ordinator Cam Walker said.
“Here in Victoria, the government has largely stalled action on renewable energy. Continue reading
Solar plant construction in Victoria moves on
Solar plant work heats up with latest funding http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-05/waste-dump-to-top-agenda-at-anti-nuclear-forum/4297944 Oct 5, 2012 Victoria’s Energy Minister has launched the second funding round for a new 1.5 megawatt solar power plant near Mildura.
Work started on the $400 million Solar Systems power station at Carwarp, south of Mildura, earlier this year.
The latest round of $10 million in funding from the State Government will allow the plant’s construction to begin in earnest.
Minister Michael O’Brien says he expects the project to showcase solar energy.
“This new 1.5 megawatt power plant will really demonstrate its scale – that large scale solar can work, the technology works and establishing these plants is actually proving on the ground that they work,” he said.
“[It] is really a massive step forward towards creating a new solar industry for that part of Victoria.”
The Member for Mildura, Peter Crisp, has welcomed the announcement and says it is a milestone in the plant’s development.
“Part of that development that makes it so critical at this stage is that they are now getting ready to start construction in Mildura,” he said.
“Those who have been out will see that it’s fenced, there’s a road area, there’s loading bays – there’s a whole lot of work being done but now you’ll start to see the parabolic dishes being assembled on site, as it now starts to move into that larger scale project.”
The murky story of how anti-wind energy bullies hijacked a town’s name
The New South Wales and South Australian governments are currently reviewing guidelines for wind farms. Neither government is likely to ignore a recent poll that 77 per cent of Australians support wind farms.
Waubra Fights The Anti-Wind Bullies. New Matilda , 26 Sept 12, By Sandi Keane The town of Waubra has had its name hijacked by anti-wind astroturfers. Locals say they’re happy with wind-farming – and it’s not making them sick. So who are the scare campaigners? Sandi Keane reports
It’s spring in the quiet sheep-farming hamlet of Waubra, an hour’s drive northwest of Ballarat in Victoria. With the shearing done and the crops in, local farmers have turned to a bit of springtime mending. Not fences, but the town’s image. After three years saddled with the negative legacy of the “foundation” that stole their name, local farmer, Karen Molloy, says the community is fighting back with a bumper festival.
Back in 2009, Waubra hit the news when powerful forces linked to mining interests, and Australia’s climate sceptic factory, the Institute of Public Affairs, used what was then the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere as an easy target for their anti-wind scare campaign. The establishment of the Waubra Foundation followed.
“For three years, we’ve lived here quite happily. We love the wind towers and love Waubra. But it is so much more than wind so we’ve dropped the word “Wind” from the Waubra Community Festival”, Molloy said.
The festival, which takes place on Saturday 6 October, will showcase the positives of renewable energy as well as the fresh produce grown in its red volcanic soil. There’ll be a “Waubra Gift” running race, free rides, entertainment for the whole family, a free bus from Ballarat and a tour of the wind farm. Continue reading
Call for Victorian government to allow small scale community wind farms
Call to ease regulations for small wind farms http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-20/call-to-ease-regulations-for-small-wind-farms/4271052 Sep 20, 2012 The Hepburn council will lobby the Victorian Government to exempt community-based wind farms from strict regulations. A planning amendment introduced by the State Government last year prohibits new wind farms in certain areas and within two kilometres of houses.
The council adopted a motion at this week’s meeting to express its ongoing support for renewable energy developments.
Mayor Sebastian Klein says small wind farms should not be treated the same as large-scale wind farms. “It basically asks for the State Government to make different considerations for community owned wind farms than I guess large-scale, corporate wind farms,” he said.
“So I guess small-scale community owned wind farms that provide back to the community have a community dividend and also have a much smaller footprint and a much smaller impact on the landscape and on people’s amenity.”
Despite the evidence, THE AUSTRALIAN newspaper claims that wind power does not help reduce CO2 emissions
Wind power abates greenhouse gasses in the UK, why should we believe Lloyd and Cumming’s claims that, for some reason, it is not working in Australia. See Beyond the bluster: Why wind power is an effective technology by the UK Institute of Public Policy Research.
The Australian’s Graham Lloyd pushes hard against the winds of change Independent Australia 10 September, 2012 The Australian newspaper – and its environment editor, Graham Lloyd, in particular – have a vendetta against wind power, says Dave Clarke, who reviews their latest unbalanced report. GRAHAM LLOYD, the ‘environment editor’ for The Australian has got together with Hamish Cumming, an opponent of the proposed Mortlake Wind Farm, to write a creative and imaginative piece about wind power and carbon dioxide emissions.
An environment editor who has a grudge against one of the world’s most successful forms of renewable energy must be quite a rare bird. But for an employee of the Murdoch News empire it is probably a wise career choice. Opposing the huge and powerful fossil fuel/mining industry would not be good for Lloyd’s future prospects in that system.
Lloyd relies heavily on what he calls Cumming’s ‘two year analysis of Victoria’s wind farm development’, but does not say where or how this analysis has been published, nor can I find it on the internet.
They claim that, while Victoria’s wind farms have displaced a significant amount of Victoria’s coal-fired power, this has not resulted in any less greenhouse carbon dioxide being generated by said coal-fired power stations. Lloyd and Cumming claim that when the wind blows and Victoria’s wind farms are generating at a high level, the coal-fired power stations cut back their generation, but go on polluting the atmosphere at the same rate as they would at full power.
What they are implying, but not saying, is that the coal-fired power stations are so poorly designed, poorly managed, or simply so inherently inflexible that they cannot reduce their rate of pollution, even when they are generating less power!
Where Lloyd and Cumming get really creative and imaginative is in claiming that this is not any fault of the coal-fired power stations, but of the wind farms. Somehow we are to believe that the (alleged by Lloyd and Cumming) failure of Victoria’s coal-fired power stations to reduce their emissions in response to reduced demand on their generation is all to be blamed on the wind power industry. Continue reading
Baillieu governs in the interests of the fossil fuel lobby, damaging the wind farm industry
Victorian wind farm laws: a blow to Australia’s clean energy future? , The Conversation, Lisa Caripis Research assistant, Centre for Resources Energy and Environmental Law at University of Melbourne Anne Kallies PhD Scholar at University of Melbourne 4 September 2012,
It’s been just over one year since the Baillieu government introduced the second part of its far-reaching planning law reforms to restrict the development of wind farms in Victoria. The results are an example of how state planning law can be a barrier to achieving national renewable energy goals.
With a majority in both houses of Parliament, the Coalition was able to amend Victoria’s planning framework unhindered to deliver on its 2010 election promise to “restore fairness and certainty to the planning process for wind farms”.
In pursuit of this aim, the planning amendments most notably impose a blanket ban on wind farms in many parts of the state. They effectively give the owners of any dwelling within 2km of a proposed wind farm the power to decide whether or not the development should proceed. A July 2012 amendment clarifies that these changes are targeted at wind farms generating electricity for supply to the grid, not for on-site use.
Economically, reports indicate that the impacts of these changes in terms of lost or stalled wind farm investment and employment have been considerable, in a state that has some of Australia’s best wind resources. While promising to “give the community a greater voice” through these changes, the amendments instead render local, pro-wind initiatives, such as community wind farm projects impossible in many locations .
Not only do the planning law changes have the potential to entrench existing fossil fuel power generation in Victoria, they undermine the Victorian Government’s commitment to the federalRenewable Energy Target (RET).
The RET is designed to ensure that 41,000 GWh – close to 20% – of our electricity comes from large-scale renewable energy by 2020. It implicitly relies on implementation through state and territory planning frameworks, because decisions about what kind of development can take place and where rest with the states. The Climate Change Authority , which reviews the RET, notes
State and territory planning regulations may affect the level of renewable energy generation, its mix, and the geographic distribution of renewable power stations.
This can cause problems when state laws are out of step with national targets, as the electricity market rule-maker pointed out last year . It is of some concern that New South Wales draft guidelines also adopt the 2km consent rule and impose a noise assessment regime stricter than in any other jurisdiction in Australia, the United States or Europe….. http://theconversation.edu.au/victorian-wind-farm-laws-a-blow-to-australias-clean-energy-future-9163
Victoria’s Premier Baillieu – out to destroy renewable energy
Victorian Solar Incentive Cut – Reactions http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3366 by Energy Matters, 3 Sept 12, The new, “fairer” feed-in tariff for roof-top solar panels in Victoria appears to be anything but – and the race is on for households to secure the higher rate before the deadline hits. The new tariff will be slashed from the current 25c + up to 8c electricity distributor contribution to just 8c per kilowatt hour for households lodging the necessary paperwork after September 30. The rate will be adjusted annually in line with the wholesale electricity rate. According to Melbourne-based Energy Matters, the deadline provides little – and in many cases, no time – for households to acquire a system.
The company is urging those considering solar panels to call Energy Matters on 1300 727 151 as soon as possible to discuss what the change will mean to them, as it will vary according to circumstances. Environment Victoria was particularly scathing of the changes, stating the Baillieu Government has broken a key election promise to provide ‘fair reward’ for solar households.
“Ted Baillieu has dumped his promise to support the Mallee solar farm, he’s made it harder to build a wind farm than a new coal-fired power station, and now he’s slashed household and business solar support. At the same time he’s handing out tens of millions in cash to the big coal companies,” said Victoria McKenzie-McHarg. “It’s fair to ask what this government has against clean energy?” she said. The Clean Energy Council stated the rate was too low. We’re obviously disappointed at this decision to reduce support for solar power, which will make it harder for everyday Victorians to reduce their power bills and put industry jobs under pressure,” said Clean Energy Council Policy Director Russell Marsh. Labor’s energy spokeswoman, Lily D’Ambrosio, slammed the decision.
”The Baillieu government has again shown it just doesn’t care about supporting families who want to reduce their energy costs while also doing their bit for the environment,” Ms. D’Ambrosio said according to a report on The Age web site. Information from Energy Matters’ web site shows a good quality 5kW solar power system installed in Melbourne can slash a household’s electricity costs in the region of $1,920 annually under the higher feed in tariff incentive arrangements; an amount that will be significantly eroded under the new system.
Wind farm for Ballarat, Victoria
Meridian to build third wind farm in Australia TVNZ September 03, 2012 Meridian Energy, one of the state-owned power companies slated for partial sale, is to start construction of its third wind farm in Australia, with the 131 megawatt Mt Mercer project in the state of Victoria.
Mt Mercer is a 64-turbine wind farm 30 kilometres south of the town of Ballarat with a construction cost of about $A260 million. The two-year project will begin in December and the commitment follows chief executive Mark Binns’s recent comments that the company’s best opportunities for investment new generation are offshore.
Mt Mercer will add to the Meridian owned-and-operated Mt Millar wind farm in South Australia and its project with AGL Energy to build the 420 MW Macarthur wind farm in western Victoria, which is touted as the largest in the southern hemisphere…. http://tvnz.co.nz/business-news/meridian-build-third-wind-farm-in-australia-5057752
Political danger for Victoria’s Premier Baillieu in following irrational anti wind energy policy
Anti-wind farm laws are bad politics for a Premier on the nose, REneweconomy,By Leigh Ewbank 30 August 2012 Ted Baillieu is a Premier in trouble. Since coming to office, he has made a slew of unpopular decisions that have caused his public support to evaporate. Baillieu’s decision to scrap TAFE funding is perhaps the highest profile of these missteps. His anti-wind energy laws, imposed one year, are less well known but are a damaging sleeper issue.The innocuous-sounding VC82 amendment effectively banned wind farms from operating in large swathes of the state. They establish arbitrary ‘no-go zones’ and allow just one objector to stop any wind turbine within 2km, making Victoria the world’s biggest NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard).
Our state’s once lucrative pipeline of wind farm projects has been blocked and capital is fleeing interstate. Over the last 12 months, just one development application has been lodged with the department of planning.
Traditionally, the Liberal Party was seen as the party of business and an ally of science and progress. In recent years, it has become captive to a Tea Party-style culture of anti-wind energy and anti-climate science extremism.
If the Premier was riding high in the polls then he could perhaps prosecute the irrational agenda of the anti-wind lobby. But he does not have political capital to spare on such ideological adventurism. Continue reading
Country Victoria taking to solar power, ahead of Melbourne
Solar Power – Regional Victoria Gets It http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3361, by Energy Matters, 30 Aug 12, Statistics recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show uptake of solar power technology outside of Melbourne to be higher than in the state’s capital city.
In Melbourne, 4% of households had solar hot waterand 5% had solar panel systems in October 2011. However, in the rest of the Victoria, 9% of households had solar hot water installed and 8% had solar panels. Uptake has probably increased substantially since October last year, but these results help quash one of the many myths of solar power – that only well-to-do big city folks can afford it. Continue reading
How Aborigines were cheated out of their land in Victoria
The most important outcome of this event was that Batman became the first and possibly the only early Anglo-Australian to formally recognise the indigenous Aboriginal population as property owners.
On this day: annulment of the Batman treaty AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC 27 Aug 12 IN 2012, MOST MELBOURNIANS would be confused if you offered them a handful of tomahawks, a few handkerchiefs, some blankets and some scissors for their land. One hundred and seventy-seven years ago in the rough-shod days of early Australian settlement, however, they
represented a princely sum. And that is exactly what settler John Batman used for currency to acquire the 250,000ha on which Melbourne and Geelong sit. Continue reading
DLP Senator John Madigan moves in Senate to stop Victorian wind farm
Senator tries to halt Bald Hills wind farm ABC News, Aug 23, 2012 The DLP Senator for Victoria, John Madigan, will put a motion to the Senate to stop a wind farm development at Bald Hills in the state’s east. The power company Mitsui is building the 50 tower wind farm near Inverloch, in South Gippsland.
Senator Madigan says the Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke can stop the project….
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-23/senator-tries-to-halt-bald-hills-wind-farm/4217532
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