An artist’s impression of wind turbines proposed to be installed at Cape Sir William Grant in south western Victoria.

A series of four new wind farms proposed for south western Victoria will make a significant contribution to reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recently released Environmental Effects Statement (EES).

The EES, carried out by leading consulting firm Sinclair Knight Merz for Victorian independent power producer Pacific Hydro Limited, sets out objectives compatible with the ‘triple-bottom-line’ principles of environmental sustainability, community well-being and economic prosperity.

Pacific Hydro’s Portland Wind Energy Project (PWEP) involves the integrated development of four wind farms at Cape Bridgewater, Cape Nelson, Cape Sir William Grant and Yambuk in Victoria’s Portland coastal region.

The total of 120 wind generators proposed for the four sites is expected to generate about 680 gigawatt hours of electricity each year, representing Australia’s largest wind farm project to date.

This would be sufficient renewable energy to meet the electricity needs of over 113,000 households.

Sinclair Knight Merz Project Manager, Philip Heath, said the Project’s 680 GWh of emission-free electricity would make a 7% contribution to achieving the Commonwealth Government’s mandated renewable energy target.

"Australia only emits about 3.5% of the greenhouse gas emissions generated by all industrialised countries across the globe but, in per capita terms, our emissions are the highest in the world," Mr Heath said.

"The electricity industry is an important contributor to these emissions, with about 89% of Australia’s electricity supply currently derived from the burning of fossil fuels, especially coal.

"The PWEP will reduce the greenhouse gas intensity from electricity generation in Victoria and Australia by reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 900,000 tonnes each year.

"This is equivalent to 1% of Australia’s national greenhouse gas reduction target," he said.

The wind generators proposed for the PWEP are similar to those in use at the nearby Codrington wind farm, which is also owned and operated by Pacific Hydro.

These generators have three fibreglass blades and are mounted on top of tubular, steel towers, with the electricity they generate being sent directly to the National Electricity Market grid – there is no storage or batteries.

Like Codrington, the generators within each Portland wind farm will be connected together using 22,000-volt underground cables feeding into a ‘farm-gate’ substation that includes the transformer, meters and switchgear required to connect to the grid.

Pacific Hydro expects the PWEP will kick-start a multi-billion dollar Australian based wind turbine manufacturing industry that will not only create hundreds of jobs, but will also reduce the capital cost of wind farms.

This would make wind energy a more economically viable alternate form of electricity generation for Australia.

The EES confirms the Project has the potential to establish a $900 million import-replacement wind energy turbine manufacturing industry in Australia, and to create an opportunity for the development of an export market initially valued at $110 million per year.

In addition to greenhouse gas abatement, Project benefits identified in the EES include the injection of an estimated $95 million into Portland’s regional economy and $287 million into Australia overall from expenditure on construction, operations and maintenance.

Other benefits include an increase in tourism to the Region, the creation of up to 750 new jobs in Portland and a further 1,350 new jobs created elsewhere in regional Victoria.

Key elements of the EES process included extensive consultation with the community and designing the wind farm layouts to meet aesthetic principles.

Leading landscape architects EDAW carried out the visual and landscape impact assessments for the EES and designed the layouts.

Sinclair Knight Merz brought critical expertise in community consultation to the Project.

The community consultation program was integrated within the overall EES process so that input from a wide range of stakeholders could be considered progressively.