By Jeremy Sollars
The developer behind a proposed wind farm near Stanthorpe says he is unconcerned by possible Federal Government moves to scrap subsidies for renewable energy projects.
Tim Lucas, the man behind the ‘Rabbit Ridge Wind Farm’ in the Dalveen-Pozieres area gained final approval for the project in November last year, and if it goes ahead the $40 million wind farm would see six giant turbines – each around 180 metres in height – installed on land off Rabbit Ridge Road.
Local residents are concerned about the visual and noise impacts of the wind turbines – and noise from massive diesel generators required to supplement the turbines – in the picturesque rural district.
The Free Times contacted Mr Lucas for an update on the progress of the wind farm, but he said that “due to confidentiality agreements I have entered into with turbine companies I am unable to disclose the current state of negotiations”.
Mr Lucas replied to us while on a visit to Germany, where it is understood the turbine components could be manufactured, with all wind turbine components in Australia having been brought in from overseas.
Mr Lucas did however say that he was “not worried” about potential government changes to the Renewable Energy Targets (RET) funding available for wind and solar projects.
The RET is a political hot potato at the present time, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stopping short of saying his government will scrap it – as called for this year by former PM Tony Abbott – but he told the National Press Club in January the RET was “never intended to be perpetual”.
The RET requires that 23.5 per cent of Australia’s electricity, or 33,000 gigawatts annually, will be produced by sources alternative to coal and gas-fired power generation – such as wind and solar – by 2020.
Power industry experts believe 2017 will be the “make or break” year for renewable energy in Australia, with the Turnbull Government and the ALP agreeing less than a year ago to reducing the target to 33,000 gigawatt hours from the Rudd Government’s target of 41,000 gigawatt hours.
Less than a tenth of the wind and solar generation capacity required by the RET this decade is under construction, and potential subsidies worth millions to developers of renewable projects appear to be failing to drive sufficient wind and solar investment.
Renewable energy has also come under the spotlight after state-wide blackouts in South Australia last September caused by wild storms caused 13 of the state’s operating wind farms to disconnect or reduce their output.
Reports by the Australian Energy Market Operator show the wind farms’ ‘fault ride-through’ mechanisms failed to trip during the storms.
“Certainly the government’s politicising of the energy debate is dismaying, but this has been an ongoing thing now for some time,” Mr Lucas told the Free Times in response to our questions about the RET subsidies.
“To answer your question specifically, no I am not worried.
“The project is almost the exact opposite of South Australia – my project will strengthen and support the local grid with just the right amount of embedded generation that will see a good balance between wind and solar providing fairly predictable generation close to the point of consumption.
“This would avoid transmission losses from power that otherwise would have originated in the other side of Toowoomba .
“People who focus on the intermittent nature of wind and solar would do well to consider that demand similarly fluctuates daily by about 25 per cent and has to be managed by the grid operator.”
Mr Lucas got the all-clear on the project from the Southern Downs Regional Council in late November after nearly three years of haggling over council conditions and objections from locals.
The previous Southern Downs Regional Council originally refused the plan, but Mr Lucas appealed and has now accepted renegotiated conditions set out by the current council to allow his plan to proceed.
Mr Lucas did agree to down-size the wind farm from eight to six turbines.
The project would require a three kilometre section of new 33 KV powerline from the wind farm to the main Ergon powerline into Stanthorpe.
Mr Lucas has previously declined to disclose funding sources for the project but has said he is “working towards financial close”.
Mr Lucas resides in Brisbane’s south, but operates a plumbing supplies businesses based in Sydney.
The Queensland Government recently issued environmental approvals for what would be the state’s biggest wind farm at completion, an estimated $500m project at Coopers Gap between Kingaroy and Dalby proposed by AGL.
Other wind farms are proposed for Mareeba in the state’s north, with small wind farms currently operating at Ravenshoe and Thursday Island.
The developer behind a planned solar farm for Warwick on the Cunningham Highway north of town, Ahmed El Safty, told the Free Times earlier this month plans were progressing well and he was in talks with potential private financiers who had expressed interest in the project.
