Be careful what you wish for in power projects
Community groups seeking to protect their environments face a tough corporate battlefield, writes Greg Pullen Tasmania is a sitting target for big corporates in the renewable energy business. Which poses an over-riding question for each of the small, geographically separate communities that understand the potential impact of each new energy proposal: What price do we have to pay for giving that project the go-ahead?
Greg Pullen, Talking Point
The Mercury September 20 2023
Nowhere is this more apparent at the moment than in our Central Highlands, where a 300-member coalition is mounting a case against the location of the St Patricks Plains wind farm.
While there is strong support for renewable energy, the group is united against the social and environmental impacts of this wind farm, and its ownership by overseas interests.
Monday, September 25, will mark the culmination of four years of community debate, research and lobbying.
It’s a huge call to take on a multinational juggernaut such as Korea Zinc Ltd. Its recent arrival on the renewable energy scene in Australia, through start-up Ark Energy, has seen it become a major player, buying into about 30 projects throughout the country.
The Keep Tasmania’s Highlands Unique – No Turbine Action Group (NTAG) has been told by plenty of sensible souls to give up – you’ll never win. However, that same advice was given to the biblical David with his slingshot; Horatius stood firm on that bridge; Churchill declared “we will defend our island”; and a young doctor from Melbourne rallied flotillas on the Gordon River.
Alongside communities opposed to placing wind farms on the outskirts of Stanley and on Robbins Island, and those fighting for the unspoilt beauty and tranquillity around Loongana, our Central Highlands association is defending a special place – well aware that the journey inevitably leads to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, where all parties to the Robbins Island energy park are fighting it out.
The membership comprises diverse social and political spheres, from ages from 18 to 80, local residents, shack owners, frequent visitors from interstate, and trout fishermen from the UK to the US.
The region’s biodiversity – from tiny orchids to the soaring Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle – is part of a wild landscape where peace from urban life is easy to access. Wombats and Tassie devils are regularly encountered as the world-renowned wild trout fishery attracts anglers to the region’s myriad lakes.
More than a century of hydro-electric development has seen the landscape evolve with a series of major impoundments. Penstock Lagoon is one of these smaller lakes that has been retired from power production. The lagoon hosted the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championships, and received international accolades as one of the finest fly-fishing waters anywhere.
At an information day held at the historic Steppes Hall in August 2019, Sydney developer Epuron laid out plans for a 67-wind turbine site that would cover a 10,000ha area from Bakers Tier, 25km north of Bothwell, straddling the Highland Lakes road across St Patricks Plains, and occupying the ridge line above Wilburville to the northeast.
The upbeat team of influencers handed out giveaways emblazoned with the company logo as they stood in front of panoramic photo montages showing small white towers and blades merged against a backdrop of distant hills, and talked up a boost to the local economy.
Many of those who attended the drop-in session were residents who were perhaps not as dewy-eyed as some. They were still experiencing the realities of Tasmania’s newest wind farm being built on nearby Cattle Hill, and knew that it was not always a positive experience. However, that wind farm sits off the Bashan Plain, along the eastern shores of Lake Echo, and its out-of-the-way location meant there was general acceptance.
Businesses in Bothwell and Miena benefited from the daily traffic of passing construction workers, and anyone with a vacant shack found a queue of workers ready to pay unheard-of rents to live locally during the build.
While those were the upsides, hundreds of early-morning daily traffic delays became the norm as escorted convoys trucked in the over-size components. Each blade was a staggering 70m long, and the generators exceeded the width of heavy-duty floats. Long-time renters who had settled in low-cost housing found themselves on the street as competition pushed rates up to $750 a week.
Local employment was touted as a big plus for construction, and it’s true that the huge upgrade of the Waddamana Rd kept operators of trucks, excavators and associated civil construction machinery very busy. But the onsite work, which needs skilled tradesmen, saw the influx of FIFO workers.
Communication, Electrical and Plumbing Union state secretary Michael Anderson tells the story of how Goldwind had initially staffed the development with engineers and electricians (many unlicensed) flown in from Queensland. “Battle Hill” was how he described it – with substandard workmanship and conditions finally leading to a crisis, only resolved when his union was able to get on site and have the developer employ competent staff.
Of course, Goldwind was in the box seat. They manufactured all the turbine components in China; expected to use an imported workforce employed on their contracts; and would ultimately own the project and reap the profits.
Nothing in the corporate world happens unless its final outcome is to add money to the bottom line. The key players in the renewables sector are mining and petroleum giants. Just as Big Tobacco spruiked the benefits of “harmless” vaping, so we have carbon-heavy corporates looking for a new profit centre now that their products are carrying a warning label.
These entities are politically powerful, with established lobbyists having easy access to policymakers and bureaucrats. They oversee federal bodies tasked with the transition from fossil fuels, and are skilled in garnering taxpayer-funded subsidies. Councils are mollified with promises of community handouts, diminishing real concerns many locals may have for their backyard.
While talking the talk of action on climate change, the PR spin for solar, wind and transmission projects glosses over the fundamental truth: Those planet-saving schemes are the lowest-cost option with scant regard for the devastation they may cause.
There are only handful of new renewables projects with “social licence” – a concept now recognised by the Australian Energy Market Operator chief, but given little more than lip service by posturing politicians.
While vast arrays of solar panels and swaths of turbines are necessarily sited in rural areas, it’s an easy argument for governments to cite the democratic principle of “for the common good”, knowing that the majority of voters (and energy users) live in urban settlements that will never be disrupted by anything on such an industrial scale.
With powers for compulsory acquisition, difficult schemes such as transmission corridors quickly become public construction projects – described as “in the national interest” to silence local critics, whose attachment to their country and lifestyle is caustically dismissed as NIMBYism.
In Tasmania, we have forgotten the proud history of our hydro development. Publicly-owned entities generate and distribute our water-powered energy, but recent decisions to sell off innovative assets to offshore corporations means Tasmanians own only 25 per cent of the Woolnorth and Musselroe wind farms they built.
Basslink was offloaded for a song, then leased back at ridiculous cost. Cattle Hill and Granville Harbour wind farms are foreign-owned, with their profits guaranteed by power purchase agreements underwritten by the taxpayer.
Little wonder that ACEN’s bosses in Manila and Ark Energy’s chiefs in Seoul are keen to get a foothold in this state.
These private entities support the building of Marinus Link and the North West Transmission Developments with public funds.
While we hold water back in our dams, waiting for peak-time spot prices on the National Electricity Market, wind generators can fill the demand here, and access the National Electricity Market to sell their surplus.
It’s this corporate battlefield that community groups enter when they oppose the roughshod tactics of industrialisation in their area.
The thousands of dollars companies spend on sumptuous catering for meetings with government ministers and pivotal bureaucrats must be matched by hard-won funding that opposition groups raise to engage diverse specialists, consultants and lawyers, whose expertise matches those of the proponents.
Ten thousand dollars buys limited amounts of advice from many of these professionals, whose rates are aligned with the ability of big business to pay. Every dollar spent by industry is a tax deduction. Every cent spent by opposition groups comes from their own pockets.
Government doors are open to industry, but it’s a rare occasion that sees community members granted an audience with a minister. The most we get is annual platitudes as we hold placards outside $3000-a-seat industry talkfests. Letters asking pertinent and direct questions of ministers come back (eventually) with bland quotes from previous media releases. FOI requests string out with demands to restrict scope, and when received, feature slabs of redacted text.
Commercial-in-confidence masks government-in-pocket.
This is the reality of opposing large projects. A nucleus of locals grows in size as people begin to understand what is being planned for their area.
There are professional organisations that see the shortfalls in the developments, offering reduced rates or pro bono services to provide essential advice. Strong legal representation is never cheap, but firms whose interest lies in justice rather than justification, step up.
The public servants who populate sections supposedly devoted to our flora and fauna are only rarely helpful – well aware that their careers depend on obsequious behaviour, not their better instincts.
Councils are realising that there’s a cost to hosting a wind farm, surprised to learn a multibillion-dollar business will pay no rates. Turbine space and road corridors are leased from landholders, who don’t own the machinery or buildings.
A bigger shock can eventuate when the council, as the planning authority, is the first port of call when issues such as noise disturbance for neighbours becomes a legal issue.
Shires in Victoria have been hit with legal costs of $100,000 as they become embroiled in environmental issues that are outside their jurisdiction in the initial planning process.
The cost of maintaining rural roads, upgraded during wind farm construction, can become a millstone.
This was certainly the case when flood damage to the Waddamana and Bashan roads cost Central Highlands ratepayers tens of thousands.
Tasmanians have a legacy of dogged defence when the beauty and lifestyle of this island is threatened. At a time when expanded renewable power generation is vital, we must select only the best projects to enhance a sustainable future.
Greg Pullen is a committee member of the Keep Tasmania’s Highlands Unique – No Turbine Action Group and has a keen interest in renewable energy transformation, in particular its benefits for Tasmania.
While there is strong support for renewable energy, the group is united against the social and environmental impacts of this wind farm, and its ownership by overseas interests.
Monday, September 25, will mark the culmination of four years of community debate, research and lobbying.
It’s a huge call to take on a multinational juggernaut such as Korea Zinc Ltd. Its recent arrival on the renewable energy scene in Australia, through start-up Ark Energy, has seen it become a major player, buying into about 30 projects throughout the country.
The Keep Tasmania’s Highlands Unique – No Turbine Action Group (NTAG) has been told by plenty of sensible souls to give up – you’ll never win. However, that same advice was given to the biblical David with his slingshot; Horatius stood firm on that bridge; Churchill declared “we will defend our island”; and a young doctor from Melbourne rallied flotillas on the Gordon River.
Alongside communities opposed to placing wind farms on the outskirts of Stanley and on Robbins Island, and those fighting for the unspoilt beauty and tranquillity around Loongana, our Central Highlands association is defending a special place – well aware that the journey inevitably leads to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, where all parties to the Robbins Island energy park are fighting it out.
The membership comprises diverse social and political spheres, from ages from 18 to 80, local residents, shack owners, frequent visitors from interstate, and trout fishermen from the UK to the US.
The region’s biodiversity – from tiny orchids to the soaring Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle – is part of a wild landscape where peace from urban life is easy to access. Wombats and Tassie devils are regularly encountered as the world-renowned wild trout fishery attracts anglers to the region’s myriad lakes.
More than a century of hydro-electric development has seen the landscape evolve with a series of major impoundments. Penstock Lagoon is one of these smaller lakes that has been retired from power production. The lagoon hosted the 2019 World Fly Fishing Championships, and received international accolades as one of the finest fly-fishing waters anywhere.
At an information day held at the historic Steppes Hall in August 2019, Sydney developer Epuron laid out plans for a 67-wind turbine site that would cover a 10,000ha area from Bakers Tier, 25km north of Bothwell, straddling the Highland Lakes road across St Patricks Plains, and occupying the ridge line above Wilburville to the northeast.
The upbeat team of influencers handed out giveaways emblazoned with the company logo as they stood in front of panoramic photo montages showing small white towers and blades merged against a backdrop of distant hills, and talked up a boost to the local economy.
Many of those who attended the drop-in session were residents who were perhaps not as dewy-eyed as some. They were still experiencing the realities of Tasmania’s newest wind farm being built on nearby Cattle Hill, and knew that it was not always a positive experience. However, that wind farm sits off the Bashan Plain, along the eastern shores of Lake Echo, and its out-of-the-way location meant there was general acceptance.
Businesses in Bothwell and Miena benefited from the daily traffic of passing construction workers, and anyone with a vacant shack found a queue of workers ready to pay unheard-of rents to live locally during the build.
While those were the upsides, hundreds of early-morning daily traffic delays became the norm as escorted convoys trucked in the over-size components. Each blade was a staggering 70m long, and the generators exceeded the width of heavy-duty floats. Long-time renters who had settled in low-cost housing found themselves on the street as competition pushed rates up to $750 a week.
Local employment was touted as a big plus for construction, and it’s true that the huge upgrade of the Waddamana Rd kept operators of trucks, excavators and associated civil construction machinery very busy. But the onsite work, which needs skilled tradesmen, saw the influx of FIFO workers.
Communication, Electrical and Plumbing Union state secretary Michael Anderson tells the story of how Goldwind had initially staffed the development with engineers and electricians (many unlicensed) flown in from Queensland. “Battle Hill” was how he described it – with substandard workmanship and conditions finally leading to a crisis, only resolved when his union was able to get on site and have the developer employ competent staff.
Of course, Goldwind was in the box seat. They manufactured all the turbine components in China; expected to use an imported workforce employed on their contracts; and would ultimately own the project and reap the profits.
Nothing in the corporate world happens unless its final outcome is to add money to the bottom line. The key players in the renewables sector are mining and petroleum giants. Just as Big Tobacco spruiked the benefits of “harmless” vaping, so we have carbon-heavy corporates looking for a new profit centre now that their products are carrying a warning label.
These entities are politically powerful, with established lobbyists having easy access to policymakers and bureaucrats. They oversee federal bodies tasked with the transition from fossil fuels, and are skilled in garnering taxpayer-funded subsidies. Councils are mollified with promises of community handouts, diminishing real concerns many locals may have for their backyard.
While talking the talk of action on climate change, the PR spin for solar, wind and transmission projects glosses over the fundamental truth: Those planet-saving schemes are the lowest-cost option with scant regard for the devastation they may cause.
There are only handful of new renewables projects with “social licence” – a concept now recognised by the Australian Energy Market Operator chief, but given little more than lip service by posturing politicians.
While vast arrays of solar panels and swaths of turbines are necessarily sited in rural areas, it’s an easy argument for governments to cite the democratic principle of “for the common good”, knowing that the majority of voters (and energy users) live in urban settlements that will never be disrupted by anything on such an industrial scale.
With powers for compulsory acquisition, difficult schemes such as transmission corridors quickly become public construction projects – described as “in the national interest” to silence local critics, whose attachment to their country and lifestyle is caustically dismissed as NIMBYism.
In Tasmania, we have forgotten the proud history of our hydro development. Publicly-owned entities generate and distribute our water-powered energy, but recent decisions to sell off innovative assets to offshore corporations means Tasmanians own only 25 per cent of the Woolnorth and Musselroe wind farms they built.
Basslink was offloaded for a song, then leased back at ridiculous cost. Cattle Hill and Granville Harbour wind farms are foreign-owned, with their profits guaranteed by power purchase agreements underwritten by the taxpayer.
Little wonder that ACEN’s bosses in Manila and Ark Energy’s chiefs in Seoul are keen to get a foothold in this state.
These private entities support the building of Marinus Link and the North West Transmission Developments with public funds.
While we hold water back in our dams, waiting for peak-time spot prices on the National Electricity Market, wind generators can fill the demand here, and access the National Electricity Market to sell their surplus.
It’s this corporate battlefield that community groups enter when they oppose the roughshod tactics of industrialisation in their area.
The thousands of dollars companies spend on sumptuous catering for meetings with government ministers and pivotal bureaucrats must be matched by hard-won funding that opposition groups raise to engage diverse specialists, consultants and lawyers, whose expertise matches those of the proponents.
Ten thousand dollars buys limited amounts of advice from many of these professionals, whose rates are aligned with the ability of big business to pay. Every dollar spent by industry is a tax deduction. Every cent spent by opposition groups comes from their own pockets.
Government doors are open to industry, but it’s a rare occasion that sees community members granted an audience with a minister. The most we get is annual platitudes as we hold placards outside $3000-a-seat industry talkfests. Letters asking pertinent and direct questions of ministers come back (eventually) with bland quotes from previous media releases. FOI requests string out with demands to restrict scope, and when received, feature slabs of redacted text.
Commercial-in-confidence masks government-in-pocket.
This is the reality of opposing large projects. A nucleus of locals grows in size as people begin to understand what is being planned for their area.
There are professional organisations that see the shortfalls in the developments, offering reduced rates or pro bono services to provide essential advice. Strong legal representation is never cheap, but firms whose interest lies in justice rather than justification, step up.
The public servants who populate sections supposedly devoted to our flora and fauna are only rarely helpful – well aware that their careers depend on obsequious behaviour, not their better instincts.
Councils are realising that there’s a cost to hosting a wind farm, surprised to learn a multibillion-dollar business will pay no rates. Turbine space and road corridors are leased from landholders, who don’t own the machinery or buildings.
A bigger shock can eventuate when the council, as the planning authority, is the first port of call when issues such as noise disturbance for neighbours becomes a legal issue.
Shires in Victoria have been hit with legal costs of $100,000 as they become embroiled in environmental issues that are outside their jurisdiction in the initial planning process.
The cost of maintaining rural roads, upgraded during wind farm construction, can become a millstone.
This was certainly the case when flood damage to the Waddamana and Bashan roads cost Central Highlands ratepayers tens of thousands.
Tasmanians have a legacy of dogged defence when the beauty and lifestyle of this island is threatened. At a time when expanded renewable power generation is vital, we must select only the best projects to enhance a sustainable future.
Greg Pullen is a committee member of the Keep Tasmania’s Highlands Unique – No Turbine Action Group and has a keen interest in renewable energy transformation, in particular its benefits for Tasmania.
