Wind blows again
By Jane Ross
A NEW wind farm is planned for St Clair on the outskirts of Wonthaggi.
Brief details of the 50 megawatt wind farm have just appeared on the website of Synergy Energy Pty Ltd.
Noone seems to have heard anything about it.
Bass MLA Ken Smith, South Gippsland Conservation Society president Dave Sutton and Wonthaggi resident Beth Banks responded with a battle weary: “Oh no!”
All veterans of the long-running but futile fight to prevent the six turbine wind farm on the Wonthaggi coast, Mr Smith, Mr Sutton and Ms Banks were unaware of the St Clair plan.
So were Bass Coast Shire CEO Allan Bawden, Nationals Leader Peter Ryan and McMillan MHR Russell Broadbent.
The wind farm will have somewhere between 25 and 40 turbines and will be sited 5kms east of the Wonthaggi Wind Farm.
Mr Ryan said because of the proposed wattage, council would have no role to play in planning decisions.
“It will be dealt with by (the State) government.”
And any planning panel considering the wind farm would have to take into account the State’s support for wind energy.
“We’d certainly oppose it,” said Mr Sutton. “You’d probably see it from the coast – it is further industrialisation of our coast.
“It’s killing the golden goose.”
An electronics engineer, he said there was no point to wind farms because they have to be backed up by a coal powered source.
Mr Smith agreed.
“Wind farms don’t generate enough power. They’re a blight on the landscape. Solar is better.”
He said the Wonthaggi Wind Farm was “forced through and wouldn’t generate enough power for 10 houses”.
And a 50 megawatt wind farm would only produce one third of that if it was working full time and flat out.
The St Clair Wind Farm was “bad news”.
Christian Spitzner who is in charge of the project for Synergy Wind Pty Ltd, told The Star the St Clair Wind Farm was in the “very early stages”.
He was unable to say how many turbines were proposed because it would depend on whether they were 1.5 or three megawatt.
“Those decisions can’t be made until all the necessary assessments are done on wind speed, flora and fauna.”
Mr Spitzner said the company would “consult with council” and engage companies to do the assessments.
There will be an open day for the public to find out more, but Mr Spitzner could not say when that would be.
Synergy Energy would be willing to provide power from the St Clair Wind Farm to the Wonthaggi desalination plant, but Mr Spitzner said that facility was not the reason for the wind farm.
Synergy Energy has two other wind farm projects in Gippsland, one at Devon North, the other at Carrajung.
Allan Bawden told The Star he hadn’t heard about the St Clair proposal, but it did not surprise him.
“I had an idea there was a (wind) monitoring tower out there.
“And, when the government produced a wind atlas that mapped areas in Victoria, it identified areas on the coast near Wonthaggi as suitable.”
Russell Broadbent said he’d heard nothing about the St Clair project and he remains opposed to wind farms.
“I am still concerned about the amenity of them.
“If they get away with this one, then there will be the next and the next.
“I wouldn’t mind if they had more than 19 per cent efficiency, but I don’t see them as a viable alternative at this stage.”
Mr Broadbent said the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, would “like to see them all over Australia”.
Short URL: http://www.thestar.com.au/?p=43
Posted by 
