Right: A large wind farm at Toora, on Victoria's south coast.
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Arguments against the new wind farm regulations in Victoria and New South Wales
1. The claims made about the adverse effects of wind farms are unsubstantiated
In July 2010 the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council issued a report on the supposed ill-effects of wind farms on the health of those living near them.
The report stated, 'Concerns regarding the adverse health impacts of wind turbines focus on infrasound noise, electromagnetic interference, shadow flicker and blade glint produced by wind turbines.
While a range of effects such as annoyance, anxiety, hearing loss, and interference with sleep, speech and learning have been reported anecdotally, there is no published scientific evidence to support adverse effects of wind turbines on health.'
Reported health concerns primarily relate to infrasound (sound that is generally inaudible to the human ear) generated by wind turbines. The World Health Organization states that 'There is no reliable evidence that sounds below the hearing
threshold produce physiological or psychological effects'.
A recent expert panel review in North America found no evidence that audible or sub-audible sounds emitted by wind turbines have any direct adverse physiological effect. The principal human response to perceived infrasound is annoyance.
A study of three UK wind farms also supports this conclusion, finding that sound associated with modern wind turbines is not a source which will result in noise levels which may be injurious to the health of a wind farm neighbour.
There is also the argument that if people are worried about their health they may become anxious, causing stress related illnesses which are genuine health effects arising from their worry; however, these effects do not result directly from the wind turbine itself.
A further doubt raised about the validity of health concerns relating to wind farms is that farmers who receive financial benefit from these farms do not seem to suffer ill-effects to the same extent as those who do not gain economically.
2. These restrictions will seriously undermine the development of clean energy sources in affected states and in Australia as a whole
It has been claimed that the Victorian wind farm guidelines, likely to be replicated in New South Wales, will seriously undermine federal government attempts to foster clean, renewable energy generation in Australia.
Giles Parkinson, writing for Climate Spectator (a sub-publication of Business Spectator) has stated, 'This decision in Victoria, and whether the O'Farrell government chooses to follow suit or not, has potentially major implications for the federal government's 20 per cent renewable energy target ... Some industry participants, such as Origin CEO Grant King, say the target will already be hard to meet.'
Parkinson further claims, 'Victoria's decision removes some of the best wind resources in the eastern states. Although the government argues that 92 per cent of the state is still available to wind, wind farm developers say they are effectively locked out. Pacific Hydro, one of the biggest Australian developers, says it will not pursue any further developments in Victoria once its two current projects are completed.'
Parkinson's summary view about government policies that hinder renewable energy is that they will make the meeting of greenhouse emission targets both more difficult and ultimately more expensive. Parkinson states, 'In Australia, it means more delays and ultimately, greater costs. Developers and financiers will have difficulty building in a carbon price to their business models with any certainty. That, in turns, means further delays to the rollout of renewables... Once again, tens of billions of dollars of investment gets pushed back, and ultimately becomes more expensive.'
3. The restrictions will have a damaging impact on the economies of Victoria and New South Wales
It has been claimed that the new guidelines implemented in Victoria and proposed for New South Wales will damage the economies of each state by diverting future investment in wind farms in each jurisdiction. This will reduce the level of development and the jobs growth that would have been associated with the industry.
An analysis conducted for the Clean Energy Council by consultants Carbon Market Economics before last year's Victorian election estimated that between 50 and 70 per cent of proposed wind farms, worth up to $3.6 billion, would not be developed under Coalition policy. Now that this policy has been implemented by the Baillieu government, critics have warned that these investment losses will soon be felt by the Victorian economy.
Renewable energy company Pacific Hydro said it remained committed to building three farms approved under Labor, but it did 'not envisage' developing more in Victoria. The company's general manager, Lane Crockett, stated, 'Unfortunately these new wind farm rules will hold Victoria back while other states power ahead.'
The corporate law firm Clayton Utz has stated, 'For developers, the changes could mean increased delay and cost associated with the assessment and approval of particularly large complex facilities.' It has also been claimed that the development of community-owned wind projects near Castlemaine and Woodend are now in doubt.
Victorian Greens MP Greg Barber stated, 'Wind farms are one of the biggest growth areas for regional Victoria over the past 10 years and they would have been for the next 20 years, but he [Premier Baillieu] has killed that off.'
Similarly, New South Wales Greens MP David Shoebridge stated, 'By pandering to the climate change deniers and wind witch doctors, the NSW government is squandering the chance for the creation of four thousand new green jobs.'
The wind industry offers a range of jobs beyond manufacturing of equipment, including parts supply, maintenance and training services. Critics of the New South Wales and Victorian guidelines argue that they will discourage such growth and will cost these states jobs and development.
4. The restrictions are more limiting than those placed on other energy production facilities and greater than those imposed overseas
It has been claimed that the new Victorian and proposed New South Wales wind farm regulations are discriminatory as they impose greater restrictions on wind farms than they do on other types of development.
The executive manager of Pacific Hydro, Andrew Richards, has claimed that the Victorian government's policy would create a 13-square-kilometre exclusion zone around all homes. Speaking prior to the last Victorian election, Mr Richards noted that the exclusion zone would not apply to other infrastructure, including coal-fired power stations.
Mr Richards stated, 'Why is the wind industry singled out on this? We feel as though we need to make a strong public statement on this so people are under no illusion about what it means.'
Similar criticisms have also been made about the discriminatory nature of the regulations proposed for New South Wales. Lindsay Soutar, the national co-ordinator of the community 100% Renewable campaign stated of the New South Wales draft guidelines, 'The new wind guidelines introduced today place more rigorous requirements on wind projects than on any other project development in the state. While coal and coal seam gas get the red carpet, wind power just gets more red tape.'
The draft planning regulations were also criticised by Max Phillips, a Marrickville Greens councillor, who said on twitter, 'So in NSW u can build a gas well within 200m of a home, or 5-8m of a future home, but a wind turbine should be 2km away. Go figure #nswpol'
It has also been claimed that the two kilometre limit from houses is greater than that imposed overseas. Ditlev Engel, The chief executive of the Danish company, Vestas, a wind-turbine manufacturer, Mr Ditlev Engel has expressed surprise at the two kilometre buffer zone imposed by the new Victorian wind farm regulations.
Mr Engel stated, 'I was asked the other day in Canberra where does that number come from, and I said I have no idea. Who found out that two kilometres was the magic number?
In Denmark, when you have a wind turbine, in order to get approval you need to be four times the height of the tip (away from a house).
The tip height is 150-200 metres, so the distance from the turbine to where people live has got to be 600-800 metres. And that's fine. So why it should be more than double in the state of Victoria I do not know.'
Cam Walker, Friends of the Earth campaigns co-ordinator, similarly states of the New South Wales buffer zone, 'As is the case in Victoria, the guidelines use a 2km trigger when it comes to residents having the ability to oppose a project. What is the basis for selecting 2km? The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the government is following the wish list of anti-wind campaigners through adopting an arbitrary set-back model.'
5. Wind power is neither prohibitively expensive nor unreliable
Supporters of wind power dispute that it is highly expensive or unreliable. They note that it is the cheapest form of clean energy available, being far cheaper than uranium fuelled power stations without creating the waste disposal problems that nuclear power plants have.
Supporters of wind power further claim that it is not intended to replace other forms of power generation but to substantially supplement them.
The director of the Clean Energy Council, Kane Thornton, stated, 'No one is saying that all our electricity should come from the wind, but it is playing an increasing role in providing clean energy for Australians...
One criticism is that wind has to be "backed up" by gas power plants, which sit idling away waiting for the wind to stop blowing. In fact we can predict the wind with better than 90 per cent accuracy and our electricity grid is flexible enough that it can be easily accommodated.'
Mr Thornton has noted the growing importance of wind power in generating clean energy in Australia. He has stated, 'Over the first six months of this year [2011], Australia's 1188 wind turbines generated enough electricity to power more than 725,000 homes. One week the wind was blowing so strongly it powered more than 1.5 million homes. What rusted-on opponents of wind are most afraid of is the evidence that shows how well it works in producing our electricity and reducing emissions.'
Mr Thornton also claims that wind-generated power will not be a significant factor in increasing the cost of electricity. He has written, 'Wind power is currently more expensive than either coal or gas, but you would barely notice it when your bill comes in. Even with all the wind farms planned by the end of the decade under our renewable energy target, the projections are that renewable energy will make up between 4-7 per cent of our bills by 2020. And wind power is coming down in price, while coal and gas are getting more expensive.'