Public Consultation Opens for $1.2 Billion Wind Farm Proposal in Victoria

The project's environmental effects statement is open for public consultation until March 11.

Public consultation has begun on a $1.2 billion proposal to establish a wind farm with more than 100 turbines in south-west Victorian pine plantations.

The Kentbruck Green Power Hub is planned for plantations between the townships of Nelson and Portland.

Its developer, Neoen Australia, has leased land from the plantation owners and will clear trees to build the turbines.

The project is expected to generate up to 2,000 gigawatt hours of energy each year.

It will be built close to the Glenelg Estuary and Discovery Bay Ramsar-listed wetlands site, and the Lower Glenelg and Cobboboonee national parks.

The plantations are also home to the critically endangered southern bent-wing bat.

Initial plans included 157 wind turbines and a storage battery system, but the battery is no longer part of the proposal and the number of turbines has dropped to about 105, according to Neoen's website.

Neoen Victoria state leader Alicia Webb said each turbine could generate up to 7 megawatts of power each.

"Wind farms have to be planned such as they minimise the effects on the environment," Ms Webb said.

"That plantation is all exotic monoculture and it's not that big a deal for the environment to cut a few down and put a wind turbine there instead."

Ms Webb said the development application sought approval to build turbines up to 270 metres tall.

"It's quite a good symbiotic use of land because there are already roads through the pine plantation, there's already access for fire trucks and things like that," she said.

Wetlands, endangered bats nearby

University of Melbourne's forestry expert Rod Keenan said there was interest around the world in building wind turbines in plantations as technology improved.

"Forests were considered a no-go area for wind turbines because they tend to make the atmosphere a bit more turbulent and don't give you as good fetch for wind to generate energy," Professor Keenan said.

"Because the turbines have got bigger they're able to put them into the tree plantations.

The Kentbruck proposal will connect to the grid at the Heywood Terminal Station, which is close to the Portland Aluminium Smelter, Victoria's largest single electricity load.

Neoen's public consultation material stated the turbines would be built tall enough to avoid disturbing the critically endangered southern bent-wing bat often found in the pine plantations.

Professor Keenan said studies had shown increasing levels of biodiversity in forestry plantations, which would need to be considered.

"The plantations themselves are in a matrix with wetlands and other habitats as well," he said.

Public consultation on the Kentbruck Green Energy Hub's environmental effects statement closes on March 11.