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 Community wind farms allow local residents and landholders to own their own renewable energy source. Communities are involved in decisions from the outset and recieve benefits from local development. Community ownership of wind farms has grown rapidly overseas and could play a big role in the future of energy generation.
The need for wind generation
Nations around the globe and other Australian states are introducing renewable energy targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change. Australia is abundant in wind energy, and wind is one of the least expensive ways to reduce emissions from electricity.
What are community wind farms?
Most existing wind farms have lease agreements with farmers, where the farmers typically receive 1-2% of the gross revenue of the wind farm in return for having turbines on their land (New Zealand Wind Energy Association, 2005).
On the other hand, community wind farms are co-operatives of local community members that enlist investors to purchase and operate wind farms. The revenues from selling the electricity are then divided amongst members.
What are the advantages of community wind farms?
- Economic benefits do not only go to the leaseholder, but are spread throughout the community – and these benefits are likely to stay local (Galluzo, 2005).
- Greater community involvement and control in decision making.
- Community owned wind farms tend to be smaller (less than 10 turbines) and have less visual and noise impact than commercial farms, and hence greater community acceptance (Toke, 1999, Gipe, 2004, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 2006).
- Job creation.
- A new means of using the land productively, and a source of additional income. Typically, 96-97% the land can be farmed as normal, for crop planting or grazing (New Zealand Wind Energy Association, 2005). This could greatly benefit farmers as NSW continues to suffer from drought.
What about community wind farms overseas?
Community wind farms are particularly prevalent in Denmark and Germany. In Denmark, a quarter of all wind farms are locally owned, mostly through cooperatives (Gipe, 2004), and 85% of wind generation capacity in Denmark is made up of small turbine clusters (up to three) rather than large wind farms (Bolinger, 2001).
In Germany, 300,000 people are shareholders in wind farm projects (Gipe, 2004), with around 80% of its wind farms owned by the community as at the end of 2000 (Bolinger, 2001). Wind energy has gained very high social acceptance in Germany and Denmark, with the development of community wind farms playing a major role.
Community Wind Farms in Australia
The Hepburn Renewable Energy Association, a community organization made up of members of the local community, has received approval to develop Australia’s first community-owned wind farm in Daylesford, Victoria. The approved wind farm will comprise two wind turbines rated at 2 MW each (HREA, 2007). The community owned wind farm looks likely to go ahead having passed all approval processes and having raised 92% of funds required. Developer Future Energy has been engaged to manage the project. A community wind farm project for the Bathurst region, NSW, is in pre-development stage, with 23 landowners having nominated their land for the project. A working group of the Bathurst Community Climate Action Group has assessed the sites and developed a short list. The next stage is to select a wind farm developer to work with and conduct further assessments of the selected sites.
Support for the project within the Bathurst region is high, with unanimous support from 70 attandees at a 2008 wind farm forum. In addition, a community wind farm has recently been proposed by the Southern Council Group in NSW and a feasibility study is currently underway. Other community wind farms are also planned for Denmark, Western Australia, with a generating capacity of 1.8MW, and Mt Barker, Western Australia (Denmark Community Windfarm, 2007).
How can I get involved in community wind farming?
Find out more about the Power 4 Community project investigating a community owned wind farm in NSW’s Central West: groups.yahoo.com/group/power4community Read more about community wind farms in Australia: Find out about owning part of a wind farm with future energy: www.futureenergy.com.au/owning_turbine
Learn more about wind power: Read our report ‘The Role of Wind Power in NSW’ prepared by the Insutitute of Sustainable Futures. References Bolinger, M. (2001) Community Wind Power Ownership Schemes in Europe and their Relevance to the United States. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, May 2001.
http://eetd.lbl.gov/EA/EMP/reports/48357.pdf. Last accessed 11 September 2007. Denmark Community Windfarm, 2007. Denmark Community Windfarm. Australia. http://www.dcw.org.au/. Last accessed 31 August 2007.
Galluzo, T.W. 2005. Small packages, big benefits: Economic advantages of local wind projects. Policy brief for the Iowa Policy Project. Iowa: The Iowa Policy Project. http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/2005docs/050405-wind.pdf. Last accessed 31 August 2007.
Gipe, P. 2006. Community wind: The third way. Toronto: Ontario Sustainable Energy Association. http://www.ontario-sea.org/CommunityWind/CommunityWind.html. Last accessed 31 August 2007.
Gipe, P. 2005. Status report on the development of wind energy in the US at the end of 2004. 10 June 2005. http://www.wind-works.org/articles/WWEACountryDiscriptionUSA.pdf. Last accessed 31 August 2007.
Gipe, P. 2004 Renewable energy tariffs: Has their big day come? 2 August 2004. Tehachapi: Paul Gipe. http://www.wind-works.org/FeedLaws/RETHasTheirDayCome.html. Last accessed 31 August 2007.
HREA, 2007, Hepburn Renewable Energy Association website, Hepburn Renewable Energy Association. http://www.hrea.org.au/default.html. Last accessed 31 August 2007.
Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Total Environment Centre, Greenpeace, 2006. The Great Opportunity: 25% Renewable Energy for NSW. Australia.
New Zealand Wind Energy Association, 2005. Fact Sheet: Landowners and farmers. August 2005. Wellington: New Zealand Wind Energy Association. http://www.windenergy.org.nz/documents/2005/050826-NZWEA-FactSheet7Landowners-Hi.pdf . Last accessed 31 August 2007.
Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, 2006. Wind power, people and place. Wellington: Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Riedy C., Lewis, J. 2007. The Role of Wind Power in NSW, Australia: Institute for Sustainable Futures, UTS. http://nccnsw.org.au/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=507. Last accessed 31 August 2007.
Toke, D. 1999. Community ownership – The only way ahead for UK wind power? Ontario: Ontario Sustainable Energy Association. http://www.ontario-sea.org/pdf/DavidToke.pdf. Last accessed 31 August 2007. |
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