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 Daylesford wind farm goes alone 

Daylesford wind farm goes alone

29 Apr, 2010 12:28 AM
DAYS after the federal government shelved its Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme until the end of 2012, the Daylesford community is going it alone.

Hepburn Wind has signed the major contract to build Australia's first community-owned wind farm at Leonards Hill.

Construction of the two-turbine wind farm is scheduled to begin in October.

Hepburn Wind chairman Simon Holmes a Court said Daylesford was not waiting for renewable energy targets and its project had strong community support.

"We've moved past the dream and hopes - this will go ahead," he said.

REpower Systems will build the wind farm, which has been five years in the pipeline.

More than 1100 co-operative members have invested $7.5 million so far.

Along with finance from Bendigo Bank and a $975,000 state government grant, Hepburn Wind has pushed ahead with the $12.9 million project.

Last night , the company released its final offer of 1.8 million shares, the amount the project still needs to raise.

While Mr Holmes a Court said there were enough funds to get construction going, there were quite a few months left to raise those funds and there was a fallback if that did not happen.

"Everyone who has invested to date has invested money on a promise ... to start with, we didn't know who would build it, when or how much," he said.

"But this (last offer) is the easiest money to date to raise."

Mr Holmes a Court said communities and councils across the country had approached Hepburn Wind for ideas on how to implement the community wind-farm model in their own area.

"It's interesting times for wind in this region, some communities are still unsure about this," he said.

"But our community has a sense of ownership and understanding."

The wind farm is expected to start producing power in the second quarter of next year.

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comments


Date: Newest first | Oldest first
Well done Daylesford! I hope we will see more of these initiatives here! Great to see how many folks are willing to invest for positive change.
Posted by Grateful Gretta, 29/04/2010 2:19:30 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
Well done Daylesford, looks like they have more sense over there than some people from around the Ballarat area. I for one will definitely be buying shares, will help offset the cost when the coal fired electricity companies keep raising the price of electricity. Bring on wind farms.
Posted by Smart thinking, 29/04/2010 7:22:31 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
This article is complete spin, like Tuki and the others this project will never get off the ground
Posted by Maye, 29/04/2010 7:54:59 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
Who would put money in now after the dropping of the ETS?? We took ours out!
Posted by Big John, 29/04/2010 7:56:30 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
Great to see Daylesford in the front line of inovation and common sense and not scared of the boggie men made up by the anti wind lobby groups.
Posted by david, 29/04/2010 12:47:42 PM, on The Ballarat Courier
Maye: How can you say that the project will never get off the ground if the contract has been awarded and trucks will be on site soon? How crazy do you want to look? John: wind farm business cases are built on the the RET not the ETS. Might you consider doing some research before you pontificate in future?
Posted by Fritz, 29/04/2010 2:50:52 PM, on The Ballarat Courier
How extraordinary that one community can, itself, drive the creation of its own wind farm, yet another, just down the road, will metaphorically burn heretics at the stake for daring to support one! Is it because of a sense of ownership/agency, or is there something like NIMBYism at work around Smeaton?
Posted by rg, 29/04/2010 4:38:42 PM, on The Ballarat Courier
This project has flopped around for years. I find it very weird that people are willing to put money into something that the developer does not even have the confidence to release the wind speed of! Anyone who supports windfarms is imposting much higher costs on us all, Yes Fritz thats what the RET scheme does.
Posted by neil, 29/04/2010 5:54:39 PM, on The Ballarat Courier
Neil, the RET is going to cost your household $4/year. What do you mean "much higher costs". Did you let down your intellectual guard so low that you would believe someone who said power prices are going to triple? Learn how the market works, then let's talk.
Posted by barry, 30/04/2010 11:16:22 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
Go Daylesford! Just two turbines powers your town? Sign me up. How do we get one of these going ourselves? Any instruction manuals? While the government does nothing people power (get it!) will get things done.
Posted by Brent, 30/04/2010 1:17:25 PM, on The Ballarat Courier
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