Victoria approves first pine plantation wind farm, but big battery will need to wait

The 33-turbine Delburn wind farm – one of Australia’s first to be built within an established plantation – has received the green light from Victorian planning authorities, but a planned battery storage component will need to wait.

The project is proposed for a site within the Strzelecki Ranges, to the south of the Latrobe Valley in Victoria. The height of the turbines will allow them to operate above the plantation, allowing the wind farm to be co-located with the pine forest.

The project has attracted some local opposition, due to concerns that the wind farm would be constructed in a bush-fire prone area and too close to homes.

The project suffered a setback after local community groups took out their frustration on an observation tower at the site was vandalised, leading to the collapse of the tower.

The project’s developers said that while it had secured approval to construct 33 wind turbines, it had not been given clearance to include a proposed big battery at the project, as further investigations will be needed to assess possible fire risk.

Osmi Australia said Victorian planning authorities would seek further information about the potential safety risks posed by the battery system.

The planning milestone was welcomed by Friends of the Earth, which said the project would bring clean energy jobs into a part of Victoria that has long been dominated by coal industries.

“The Latrobe Valley has a proud history of power generation and with the Delburn wind farm now approved the region will soon be helping power the state with renewable energy” Friends of the Earth Gippsland campaigner, Wendy Farmer, said.

“The Delburn wind farm marks the beginning of an important new industry for the Latrobe Valley and is an opportunity to create new careers for young people in renewable energy.”

The wind farm is to be located within an established pine plantation, with turbines scattered throughout the trees. The Victorian government said it would seek to further assess the risks associated with the big battery component out of caution following fires at other projects.

The Victoria Big Battery had its commissioning temporarily halted after fire damaged one of the project’s battery storage units.

The Delburn wind farm is being developed by Osmium Australia and will be acquired by Cubico Sustainable Investments upon completion.

Osmi Australia’s executive director for development, Peter Marriott, said that the company would continue to engage with the local community during the remaining development work.

“Obviously, we are pleased to receive these approvals, however as there is a lot of detail for us to work through in the Panel report and the approval documents, we will need to take some time to review these materials before commenting on it further,” Marriott said.

“We would encourage the community to stay in touch with the project as it progresses.”

See also: NSW puts out call for wind farms to be located in pine plantations