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 Moorabool and Yaloak South wind farms approved 

Moorabool and Yaloak South wind farms approved

01 Nov, 2010 11:45 PM
BALLARAT'S outskirts will soon be dotted with more wind turbines.

Another two wind farms totalling 121 turbines were approved yesterday.

The Moorabool wind farm comprising 107 turbines and the 14-turbine Yaloak South wind farm were both given the green light by the Victorian Government.

The combined cost of both of the projects will be $880 million, powering 136,000 homes and creating 260 jobs while in the development stage.

West Wind Energy received approval for the Moorabool project and Pacific Hydro was given the thumbs-up for Yaloak South.

Minister for Energy and Resources Peter Batchelor said the projects would bolster regional Victoria and provide clean and sustainable energy.

The announcement comes days after a massive 157-turbine wind farm was given the green light at Stockyard Hill, west of Ballarat.

"These decisions support regional development and renewable energy in the right locations to achieve a more sustainable future for Victoria," Mr Batchelor said.

But Moorabool Shire mayor Pat Toohey said the community had pushed for alterations to the final plan, only to be ignored.

He said although he supported the project, he was furious that the concerns that were raised went unheard.

Regulations dictate the turbines cannot be built within one kilometre of houses and he said council lobbied to have that rule changed.

The impact on flora and fauna was underestimated and the quality of assessment was sub-standard, Cr Toohey added.

"The input of the community had barely had any difference," he said.

"People's rights have been trashed and sacked in the sacrifice zone."

Cr Toohey said the timing of the announcement was nothing more than a ploy to win Green votes.

"It's just the government saying 'look at us we're green' but in reality they don't care about the community," he said.

Mr Batchelor, however, said all assessments had been carried out in full.

"The Yaloak South and Moorabool wind farm projects were assessed concurrently to ensure proper consideration was given to the cumulative impact of these separate but nearby developments," he said.

West Wind Energy and Pacific Hydro were unavailable for comment yesterday.

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This is a shambles, this government are on a slippery slope to disaster. We dont need more wind farms, they are useless, there not green, they dont provide reliable energy to cut the use of coal, and are inevitable run by overseas companies so the bit about providing jobs is rubbish. More like job killers when we cant afford our power bills. Why such a rush to get all these wind farms through before the election, is it green votes? or is it the fear that after having invested in this industry and passed legislation to make it profitable that certain politicians are worried their in their last month of a job and if they dont pass them now they wont reap the benifits? This is a sham industry and a total put down to all victorians.
Posted by richard, 2/11/2010 6:32:55 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
I see the local Government is following the UK's lead in announcing new wind farms despite the research findings of the UKERC which show that the cost of power from wind turbines is more than double that of coal-generated power. They may as well just double the price of power now, the reduced energy consumption resulting from people being forced to choose food/rent over heating/lighting should eliminate the need to build the turbines in the first place.
Posted by James, 2/11/2010 8:10:17 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
Wind farms are a vote killer for howard and helper. The rural communities won't take this treat lightly
Posted by Bryan Cole, 2/11/2010 8:31:19 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
More of these eyesores. Not only will my vote go elsewhere but I will also boycott the energy firms that use this form of power generation,
Posted by Bellend, 2/11/2010 11:17:03 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
So it is okay to use 1.2 ton of Brown coal and emit 1.2 ton of CO2 to produce 1 megawatt of electricity provided our power bills don't rise. We are definately the "Me" generation. Can the brilliant minds who are so vocal against windfarms tell us what is the answer.....
Posted by Rational, 2/11/2010 11:22:20 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
I also forgot to mention that Hazelwood Power Station alone uses and estimated 2.5 Megalitres of water for every Gigawatt hour electricity produced. I am sure the average farmer would love to use that sort of water for food production.
Posted by Rational, 2/11/2010 12:01:47 PM, on The Ballarat Courier
Oh you cant be serious rational, have you had your head in the sand the last 4 years? Wind farms do nothing to stop the use of coal, i suggest if you need proof to look up the AEMO website and you will see that even when the waubra windfarm and others are working at full capacity there is no reduction in output from any of the latrobe valley's coal generators. You ask for a solution? there is one that works very well in most countries called nuclear power, but the morons in this country refuse to use it. You could even go to higher levels of hydro, but the same morons hate it to. Maybe try geothermal, it works on demand, what about bio fuels and gas, this is the way we should go. Wind power is a expensive joke.
Posted by gaz, 2/11/2010 12:24:57 PM, on The Ballarat Courier
So the fact that SA has become a net exporter of Electricity instead of a net importer has nothing to do with the development of Windfarms over there. Last I heard, the Vic State govt is working on shutting Hazelwood down. Oh and don't get me started on the future cost of decommisioning a nuke plant and actual cost of MWhr production. I look forward to geothermal and wave technology and all other forms of production. But we will have people harping on about the damage to the sea floor and any other excuse. If you use power then you may have to accept some form of generation in your district. I put up with cattle trucks and the smell of silage because I like to eat beef. I accept traffic noise because I drive a car. And I accept wind farms because I use electricity.
Posted by Rational, 2/11/2010 5:43:50 PM, on The Ballarat Courier
Gaz - you've got it spot on. Wind farms are useless for providing power for industry and the only short term solution is nuclear. However any debate on nuclear power is almost always quickly derailed by emotive arguments from people who do not understand the technology or realise how much uranium is found in coal (and released into the atmosphere by coal-powered stations). In the longer term better technologies may become available, but wind turbines are simply a way to make people not feel guilty about their giant plasma TV or keeping their house at a constant 20-25 degrees all year long.
Posted by James, 3/11/2010 8:22:58 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
Rational, what you say about SA, makes your argument for wind power even more futile, if SA export wind power to vic, then why are we not seeing a net reduction in the use of coal? Please dont try to trick people into thinking windpower stop the burning of coal, the facts say it clearly doesnt. Wind power provides erratic energy that is not suited to grid systems, it is fine for stand alone systems with batteries, but in the grid it is doing nothing but pushing the cost of power up. In fact the current system rewards wind generated power, even when made in low demand times of the day with the same payment via green certificates as it does when it is made in high demand times. This means we are infact paying for something thats not being used, which seems pretty stupid to me and other who cant afford the pointless price rises.
Posted by gaz, 3/11/2010 9:56:12 AM, on The Ballarat Courier
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