Backing for wind farm
ENERGY Minister Guy Barnett has thrown the state government’s weight behind a controversial North-West Tasmania wind farm proposal, saying renewable energy is “part of our strength as a state”.
First mooted in 2017, the Robbins Island Renewable Energy Park, by proponent ACEN Robbins Island Pty Ltd, would feature up to 122 turbines and have a generating capacity of up to 900MW.
The proposal, ticked off by the Environment Protection Authority on Thursday, has faced fierce resistance from environmental campaigners, who believe it would edge species
such as the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot closer to extinction.
One of the most significant conditions imposed by the EPA on the project is that the turbines be non-operational between March 1-May 31 and September 15-November 15, so
as to protect the migrations of the parrot.
“The board has concluded that significant mitigation measures are required regarding potential impacts on the orange-bellied parrot population given the limited knowledge about the importance of
Robbins Island in the annual ... migrations,” said authority chair Andrew Paul.
The proposal will now require approval by federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek and, should that be successful, Circular Head Council during the development application stage.
Asked about the project, Mr Barnett said Tasmania needed “more renewable energy”.
“Renewable energy in Tasmania is part of our strength as a state, it’s one of our natural assets. We need more of it. We are very supportive of the proponent and this project,” he said.
Mr Barnett is supported in this by energy heavyweights including Origin, which is planning a green ammonia facility at the Bell Bay Green Hydrogen Hub.
In its feasibility study, it said its proposal would only stack up with the addition of “new wind” generation into the grid.
In a statement, Bob Brown Foundation said the wind farm put threatened species at an “unacceptable risk”.
It described the five-month annual shutdown to lessen the impact on parrot migrations as a “limited protection”.
“We have the EPA giving the go-ahead to one of the most appalling and environmentally destructive projects proposed in Tasmania in recent years,” said Bob Brown
Foundation patron Christine Milne.
Greens Environment spokesperson Dr Rosalie Woodruff said her party also opposed the project.
“It’s critical Tasmania and the rest of the country continues to invest in renewables to fight climate change, but that can’t come at the cost of irreplaceable natural and cultural values,” she said.
Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation general manager Paul Roberts said the corporation reserved its views on the proposal.
“No doubt CHAC has concerns, we’re still trying to digest the ramifications of the (EPA) approval,” he said.