Hydro Tasmania says it will proceed with a feasibility for a wind farm on King Island, a facility that if constructed would be the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.
The potential for a 200 turbine facility to be established on King Island has created a great deal of controversy among the island’s residents; but a recent survey on whether they wanted the feasibility study to proceed showed a clear majority favour it – approximately 59 per cent.
The Clean Energy Council welcomed the decision by Hydro Tasmania to proceed with the TasWind project study, stating it would bring residents a step closer to a “multi-million dollar windfall”.
“An independent assessment conducted for Hydro Tasmania estimated that the proposed TasWind project would bring between $7 million and almost $9 million of economic benefit to King Island per year,” said Clean Energy Council Policy Director Russell Marsh.
“If the project were to proceed, up to 500 new construction jobs would be created, and 45 to 60 full-time direct and indirect jobs, at a time when jobs in traditional industries are drying up.”
However, an argument has erupted over what some claim was a commitment by Hydro Tasmania not to proceed with the study if polling showed less than 60% of residents wanted it to.
According to the ABC, some believe “failure for the survey to gather a 60 per cent approval rate means that Hydro must walk away from the controversial proposal.”
Hydro Tasmania denies it had ever set a firm minimum figure of 60 per cent support for the wind study for it to proceed – it states it had said “around 60 per cent”.
If developed as originally conceived, the $2 billion 200-turbine TasWind wind farm project would incorporate a high-voltage underwater cable across Bass Strait to connect the facility to the national electricity market and would generate approximately 2400 gigawatt hours of clean electricity a year; enough to power nearly a quarter of a million households.
