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Stockyard Hill
Project Newsletter
10/07/2008
Stockyard Newsletter July 2008 (162KB PDF)
Project Details
The wind farm site is located approximately 45km west of Ballarat in Victoria’s central highlands. The proposed wind farm encompasses the area approximately 5 km south of the township of Beaufort down to approximately 4 km north of Skipton, centred around Stockyard Hill. The final size and layout of the wind farm is subject to further environmental and wind resource investigations.
Project Update (09/07/2008)
Referral Submission To Minister
Click here for documents submitted as part of the referral.
Wind Power lodged a submission to the Minister for Planning in late June. The submission is a referral to determine whether the project requires an Environmental Effects Statement. An EES is a document that a developer must prepare if it is deemed that the project may have a significant environmental impact.
The submission contains details about the scope of the wind farm. We have been working in conjunction with DSE to determine appropriate turbine positioning so as to minimise potential environmental impacts.
Additionally, the referral contains the following:
- preliminary landscape and visual assessment;
- detailed flora and fauna study;
- the targeted Brolga assessment;
- cultural heritage; and
- geotechnical
The documents are available to the public and can be found on the website of the Department of Planning and Community Development. The studies have had a substantial impact on the project. Originally there were 370 potential sites and this has been reduced to 282.
Grid Connection
Now we know the size of the wind farm we can investigate likely grid connection options. These include augmenting the 66kV line to Ballarat and a new powerline connecting to the 500 kV line south of Lismore. The capacity of the wind farm is such that it can be accommodated using pole-type construction. Once fully investigated, the best option will be further detailed in the planning application.
Environmental Benefits
Stockyard Hill Wind Farm should produce approximately 1.482 TWh (terawatt hours, or 1,482,000 MWh) of electricity per year (as a long term average based on an assumed capacity factor of 30%). (These figures are only assumed and site monitoring of wind speeds is currently being undertaken. This information will be used to determine a site specific capacity factor. In the interim a figure of 30% is applied, which is a typical capacity factor for wind farms in Victoria.)
Over the long term this amount of electricity generation is the equivalent to providing for more than 211,000 dwellings, or approximately 16% of Melbourne homes or more than 6 times the homes in Ballarat, per year. It represents an equivalent saving of 1,347,000 tonnes of CO2e, taking 340,000 cars off the road, or planting 2.2 million trees, per year.
Economic Benefits
In terms of economic benefits, the community fund would receive over $140,000 p.a. for 25 years, while local landowners would be paid a total of over $2,100,000 p.a. Rates paid to the Pyrenees Shire would be over $540,000 p.a. All these amounts are indexed to CPI. Additionally, there would be substantial local employment created, including jobs during construction (such as road building and fencing), ongoing operation jobs, and other indirect jobs (such as catering).
Wind Monitoring Tower
You might have noticed that a wind monitoring tower has gone up. This will collect wind data for at least 12 months, and there may be several more monitoring towers that go up from time to time at various locations across the site.
What Next?
The next stage of the project will be consulting with the community about the current layout. This information can then be incorporated into the preparation of the planning application. Wind Power expects to lodge this in the last quarter of 2008, although this would be delayed if an Environmental Effects Statement is required. Wind Power will be working on the preparation of the following detailed assessments, to be included in the planning application:
- Landscape and visual assessment
- Town planning
- Geomorphology
- Electromagnetism
- Acoustics
- Electrical systems study and engineering
- Shadow flicker and blade glint
- Socio-economic
- Traffic and transport
- Flora and fauna (including bat survey, rare flora, habitat hectare, ongoing brolga study, golden sun moth, and striped legless lizard)
- Cultural heritage management plan
- Micro siting
We will continue to monitor the wind and install additional masts, the next being an 80m lattice mast. We will also continue to consult with neighbours of the project. If you are a neighbour or an interested party and haven’t been contacted, please call Ross on 9819 0117.
Wind Farm Location Map
Turbine Location Map
Last Updated 10/07/2008