Wind scheme revival
Developer looks at bringing back High Road project
THERE are two hotels in the state’s highest town, but Ravenshoe could soon have more wind farms than pubs.
With the completion date for the $380 million Mt Emerald Wind Farm due in September, developer Ratch Australia has revealed it is revisiting the old High Road Wind Farm proposal, also on the Atherton Tablelands.
The 18-turbine project had been proposed for the Evelyn area – about 10km north of Ravenshoe – seven years ago and had been shelved.
But Ratch business development executive Anthony Yeates said it was time to revisit the 62MW project.
“The High Road Wind Farm site has the same reliable wind resource as Mt Emerald and also our nearby Windy Hill Wind Farm,” he said.
If approved, this will be the third wind farm at Ravenshoe, alongside Ratch’s 20-turbine farm at Windy Hill and Neoen’s proposed 29-turbine project at Kaban.
The initial proposal for High Road included 17 turbines, each 125m in height, and having the potential to supply sufficient renewable energy to power 15,000 homes.
Approval for High Road was given to former developer Transfield Services by Tablelands Regional Council in 2011.
However, Ratch, which took over Transfield, will need to lodge a new development application for the project.
“If it seems likely that the project is still feasible, we would expect to begin community consultation on our concepts within the next few months, and start work preparing a new development application,” Mr Yeates said.
“It is feasible we could be ready to lodge a new development application for the project by the end of the year.”
He stressed that with Ratch’s main focus currently on Mt Emerald and the Collinsville Solar PV project, the company was still at an early stage of reviewing the High Road project’s feasibility.
“Other projects in the area, such as the nearby Kaban project proposed by Neoen and the continual advances in wind turbine technology, will impact our assessment,” he said.
“We are also interested in looking at battery storage options for the project, with battery technology advancing at a rapid rate and likely to feature in more and more projects over time.”