Bungendore wind farm expansion

Sunday Canberra Times
26 December 2010, Page: 7

A company operating a major wind farm north of Bungendore is proposing a $180 million expansion into an adjacent site, potentially erecting a further 55 wind turbines. The proposal has been lodged with the NSW Planning Department by Capital II Wind Farm, a company wholly owned by renewable energy business Infigen Energy. Infigen Energy already operates the 67-turbine Capital Wind Farm, east of Lake George. It proposes its new wind farm be operational by mid-2012.

Infigen Energy's proposed wind farm expansion comes as the company plans a $150 million joint venture with SunTech Power Australia to construct a solar farm, also adjacent to the Capital Wind Farm. The solar panels would span about 100ha. The photovoltaic array proposed would have a maximum height of 3.5m. Infigen Energy hopes to secure approval for two layouts for its new wind farm - although only one would be built.

The proposed operation would be located within the Palerang local government area, about 10km north of Bungendore and 30km east of Canberra. It would cover about 50km², although the actual area occupied by wind turbine equipment would be about 47ha. Under Infigen Energy's proposal, each generator would comprise a three bladed rotor with a diameter of up to 114m mounted on a 100m steel tower. The top of the blade sweep would be up to 157m above the ground.

The project's construction phase would take 12 to 18 months. - - Palerang Council Mayor Walter Raynolds welcomed the planned investment and said Infigen Energy would provide about $2 million to fund infrastructure - principally for roads - if the proposals went ahead. "It's a great investment to the district and all sorts of good things", he said. "... It's good for local infrastructure and local employment and local tourism".

Infigen Energy development manager Laura Dunphy said the energy company was working on a funding proposal with Palerang Council, but the details had not been finalised. Palerang Greens councillor Catherine Moore said "some people benefit from wind farms when they're privately owned". "[However] a lot of other people feel that they're right next to them, they're looking at them, they're often feeling the vibrations, but they're not getting the benefit by way of compensation", she said. "I guess in general terms I'd like to see us moving towards community owned [wind farms]. And maybe more of them and smaller".

She added, "If we had some land in Palerang... we could actually start a community-owned wind farm and get the benefit for the whole community, rather than just a few people". Ms Moore said wind farms were a move away from coal-fired power, "which is certainly a big thing for the Greens". An environmental assessment of the proposal produced by the consultancy Monteath and Powys found the wind turbines and associated infrastructure would be spread over open farming country that had been extensively cleared.

"There are minimal obstructions in the landscape as the area is predominantly used for grazing and some cropping", it found. The environmental assessment noted potential impacts on flora and fauna related to site disturbance during construction, and once operational, the possibility of "blade strike by birds or bats". "It was determined that the project is unlikely to impose a 'significant impact' on local populations of threatened species, endangered communities or their habitats... on the basis that the proposed works are limited to disturbing only a minor portion of the site", it said.

"At most, there are occasional visits by woodland birds and bats, although there is no breeding or special habitat for such species on the project site". Monteath and Powys found if the project was implemented in accordance with environmental management controls identified in the assessment, it would not "compromise environmental values at the locality, including ecological, heritage, soils and water quality". "Overall, it is considered once the mitigation measures have been applied that any adverse impacts will be of a minor nature and outweighed by the positive longer-term environmental, social and commercial benefits of the project".