Off-shore energy plan joins North East Wind
• Mussleroe Wind Farm
October 11, 2023
By Rachel Williams
The North-East is the focus of multiple energy projects as the race to reduce carbon emissions intensifies.
Tasmanian solar and wind energy company, TasRex, was launched last week – with Bass Strait in its sights for off-shore renewable energy projects.
TasRex is progressing the staged construction of up to 5 GW of onshore and offshore developments, with a 288 MW solar farm in the Northern Midlands currently going through the planning process.
It hopes to develop up to 3.5 GW in wind farms off North East and North West Tasmania, with early studies and engagement underway.
TFGA CEO Ian Sauer is a director of TasRex and said the North-East was poised to benefit from the project.
“There will be a high amount of high-end technical jobs in new and innovative industries as well as electrical engineers, electricians, programmers, IT, fabrication jobs and all the work that stems from that, both on and off shore,” Mr Sauer said.
“We have started doing studies and are hopeful the Federal Government will announce an EOI for licences in the next month.”
Meanwhile, ACEN Australia has commenced community engagement on its proposed transmission line development for North East Wind, a $4 billion project planned for Waterhouse and Rushy Lagoon.
Three drop-in information sessions across the region are being held this week in George Town (Wednesday, October 11), Winnaleah (Thursday, October 12) and Scottsdale (Friday, October 13) to explain the necessary high voltage transmission line.
The proposal spans 130 km, including a span from each wind farm cluster to a junction at Boobyalla and a longer section to a switching station in the Long Reach area.
The technical design features an overhead double-circuit 220 kV transmission line, strung on steel lattice towers set within a 60m-wide easement.
A study corridor for the proposed transmission line has been defined to progress the selection of a route that ACEN Australia Development Manager Toby Dove said would minimise overall impacts to landholders, the environment, and communities.
Mr Dove said they had considered residential properties, urban areas, agricultural productivity, natural values, areas of high conservation value, known heritage sites, and scenic and tourism values when identifying the study corridor.
“Early and ongoing consultations with landholders help us identify and address their unique requirements, such as avoiding impacts on farming infrastructure,” Mr Dove said.
“As part of the current investigation phase ACEN Australia is consulting with landholders along the transmission line study corridor that could be directly involved with the project … to discuss access for field surveys and technical studies, and further inform the project design and assessment requirements.”
North East Wind was declared a Major Project by the Tasmanian Government in 2022 with the capacity to generate 400 jobs during construction and 65 ongoing jobs. It could power 700,000 homes and avoid 2.5 million tonnes of CO2.
The 210 wind turbines project received its assessment criteria in August and must now complete an Environmental Impact Assessment.
ACEN staff and consultants will be more active in the area to carry out initial surveys focusing on flora and fauna, cultural heritage, marine, noise and visual assessment.
ACEN Australia Managing Director David Pollington said the transmission line was essential to the project..