Wind project ”fanning fury”

Jane Emerick
Fourteen wind turbines up to 100 metres high are set for Winchelsea’s rural skyline.
But Victoria Landscape Guardians has slammed the proposed wind farm, labelling it a “complete waste of time and money”.
Future Energy plans to build the turbines 300 metres apart on Mount Pollack, about 10 kilometres northeast of Winchelsea. Each turbines’ fans would be up to 45 metres wide.
Future Energy managing director David Shapero said yesterday the company’s proposed wind farm would produce 85,000 megawatt hours of energy enough to power 16,000 homes.
Mr Shapero said the additional “green and clean” energy would reduce carbon emissions by 85,000 tonnes a year without extra cost to users.
“They have the effect of removing 19,000 cars off the road – the equivalent of 85,000 tonnes of carbon a year,” he said.
“This is clean and green energy.”
Mr Shapero said the wind farm would connect to the state power grid.
Construction and maintenance work would create jobs in the area, he said.
Future Energy would run a visual assessment of the farm as part of the planning process.
Mr Shapero expected the turbines would be visible from “some parts” of Winchelsea.
The farm was scheduled for completion before the end of 2009.
Victoria Landscape Guardians president Randall Bell said the wind farm was “a complete waste of time and money” because it would not be a reliable source of power.
“You only have to be an eightyearold to know wind is intermittent,” Mr Bell said.
“You can’t have wind power for peak power times.”
Mr Bell said the wind farms required wind and were “no good” on hot days over 40 degrees when consumers would have to rely on gas and coal power sources to meet demand.
But restarting gas and coal generators was an “inefficient” use of the energy, he said.
Tru Energy and wind farm builder International Power will run an information meeting on the proposal from 11am to 3pm tomorrow at Winchelsea Tea Rooms.