The first of four huge wind projects frozen by the new Queensland LNP government earlier this year has been allowed to resume its passage through the state planning process, to the relief of its owners and its intended major customers, the Gladstone based smelters and refineries owned by Rio Tinto.
The 1.4 gigawatt Bungaban wind project near Wandoan, is owned by Windlab, which is majority owned by iron ore magnate and green energy advocate Andrew Forrest’s Squadron Energy.
It is a significant project, having signed the biggest power purchase agreement yet seen in Australia to help power the Boyne Island smelter and Yarwun refinery, massive assets and energy consumers that Rio Tinto says cannot survive beyond the end of the decade without access to low cost renewable power.
Bungaban was one of four projects paused by the state government earlier this year as part of a review of the planning process, which it says was allowing major projects to go through with little scrutiny, and little community input.
The new LNP government has not hidden its distaste for large wind farms, and has no intention of following the previous Labor’s governments renewable energy targets of 50 per cent by 2030 and 80 per cent by 2035, even though it supports the state’s emissions reduction targets.
Queensland remains the state with the highest dependence on coal fired generation, and the lowest average share of renewables (30 per cent over the last 12 months), and it has recently pledged $1.5 billion to underwrite ongoing maintenance on the ageing coal fleet.
The Sunshine State has largely focused on solar power – both at household and utility level – but is also seen as a major wind resource because it is windy, and it usually blows at night. For that reason, there are multiple gigawatt scale projects that are being proposed to power the grid, and along the proposed Copperstring 2.0 link to Mt Isa.
The LNP government first intervened in January, when it “called in” the proposed 450 MW Moonlight Range wind project near Rockhampton that is proposed by global asset management giant Brookfield and Greenleaf Renewables.
The owners were required to make submissions to the government “about whether the proposed development qualifies as a state interest and should be re-assessed”, along with community and other interested parties.
Three other wind projects were also paused – Bungaban, RWE’s 1.1 GW Theodore wind project near Biloela, and another Windlab project, the 1.4 GW Wongalee wind project near Hughenden.
The state government now says that deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie “has been satisfied that extensive consultation has been undertaken with the community, relevant local governments and stakeholders.”
Brookfield and Greenleaf were given until the end of the week to make submissions about whether the proposed development qualifies as a state interest and should be re-assessed, along with community and other interested parties.
Windlab and RWE have until May 16 to demonstrate that “the appropriate community consultation and impact assessment have been undertaken” for the Theodore and Wongalee projects.
Greenleaf has said it is confident “in the quality and compliance of our DA submission for the Moonlight Range Wind Farm project.
It says it has worked closely in our responses with SARA (the State Assessment and Referral Agency) to “navigate a rigorous and collaborative planning process, involving detailed ecological, heritage, noise, visual impact, stormwater, and erosion studies, as well as transport route and impact assessments.”
