Yaloak South Wind Farm
clear interest from the market should be encouraged and forecast growth should be raised.
“When there’s so much renewable energy ready to go, we should go bigger and enjoy the benefits sooner,” CEO Mark Wakeham said.
“We shouldn’t be turning investors away when they are ready and raring to invest in Victorian jobs and new industry.
“Instead of capping the auction at 650MW of projects, the Government should embrace the opportunity and accept at least 1500MW.”
Polwarth MP Richard Riordan is no fan of the large expansion of wind farms in the state’s west.
“Good things done badly aren’t always a good thing,” he said.
His electorate, which covers parts of the Golden Plains Shire down to Mortlake and Port Campbell, has 15 wind energy projects on the books.
Mr Riordan said the high concentration of sites in Western Victoria was not only troublesome when the wind doesn’t blow.
“All projects are considered in isolation. So the creation of all the new transmission lines and technology is not only costing the consumers, but polluting the landscape even further.”
He believes the ledger was balanced too heavily in favour of wind farm proponents, and local residents’ views have largely been sidelined.
Mr Riordan will lobby his parliamentary colleagues to embrace a 1.5km buffer zone, which he says is in place in other states.
He is also concerned that the existing 1km setback can use other people’s land, threatening any future development on properties that border turbines.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has said he would dump the VRET if the Coalition wins November’s election, believing it is unnecessary and only increases energy costs.
When asked what should be done about the upcoming renewables auction, Mr Riordan called for a moratorium on wind projects.
“There should not be any more wind farms permitted until they can show how they will work with communities.”
the VRET at threat of being abolished, and continued haggling at the federal level, the country’s energy policy is only consistent in its uncertainty.
At a local level, councils and organisations are largely ignoring the political argy-bargy and are setting their own long-term targets.
Colac Otway Shire wants to be carbon neutral by 2020; Barwon Water has set the same goal of reaching the mark by 2025.
Geelong council aims to cut its carbon emissions in half within two more years, and move to carbonneutrality by 2050.
And the Surf Coast Shire is seeking to have 25 per cent of local energy from renewable sources by 2020.
It is creating a microgrid, which involves solar panels, energy storage and potentially transferring energy from one civic building to another via virtual net metering.
The project, which has support from Deakin University, has seen solar systems installed on three buildings in the council’s Torquay civic precinct.
“Continuing evaluation as part of the project will identify greater efficiencies and energy generation and sharing potential,” Mayor David Bell said.
The council was committed to encouraging the community to achieve its 2020 target, Cr Bell said.
“We would like to see property developers and volume builders consider focusing more on renewable energy opportunities.”
Deakin’s push towards carbonneutrality and its research in the field will be aided by a $30 million microgrid at its Waurn Ponds campus.
In the country’s largest system of its kind, more than 23,000 solar panels will help cover more than half of the campus’ energy needs.
The venture will include a 7.25MW smart microgrid, including a 14.5 hectare solar energy generation farm, and more than 1MWh of battery storage capacity and is expected to power the campus from mid-2019.