FAQS
About Wind Farms
How long does it take to build a wind farm?
What technology does Neoen use to build its wind farms?
What is the life cycle of a wind farm?
How do wind turbines work?
How tall are the wind turbines?
When wind turbines are placed in a forest, turbines need to be taller to allow space between the tops of the trees and the bottom of the turbine blades. Neoen may also be required to construct taller turbines than normal at Kaban Green Power Hub to protect birds flying above the pine forest. This will be determined by detailed ecological surveys.
How do you stop the wind turbines from impacting our landscape?
Overall, we consider that the immediate and long-term benefits which wind farms bring to communities offset any loss of visual amenity.
ECONOMY
Do wind farms benefit the Australian/local economy?
- Direct employment of up to 48 construction workers, with each worker spending approximately $25,000 in the local area in shops, restaurants, hotels and other services (a total of up to $1.2 million)
- Indirect employment during the construction phase of approximately 160 people locally, 504 state jobs and 795 nationwide jobs
How much do renewables cost compared with other energy sources?
- Existing coal: approximately $40 per megawatt hour
- Combined gas-cycle generation: approximately $75 per megawatt hour
- New coal: approximately $130 per megawatt hour
Who pays for any road upgrades required?
Who will pay for any electrical transmission upgrades required?
Does Neoen require government subsidies to build its projects?
Who assesses the projects?
Do wind farms cause property values to decrease?
Studies into the potential impact of wind farm developments on property prices, including by the NSW Valuer-General (2009) and Urbis (2016), have concluded there is insufficient evidence to suggest wind farms can be linked to adverse impacts on property prices.
Health & Culture
Are there any health risks associated with wind farms?
Some 17 reviews of research literature conducted by leading health and research organisations from all over the world, including the World Health Organisation, Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Centre, the UK Health Protection Agency and the US National Research Council, have concluded there is no published evidence to positively link wind turbines with adverse health effects.
Can wind turbines’ noise affect local residents?
Will the project reduce air quality?
Visual observation of machinery is undertaken during site inspections in addition to daily pre-start checks which ensure all machinery has appropriate emission control devices, is in good working order and is maintained correctly.
Is cultural heritage taken into consideration?
Environment
Do wind farms impact on flora and fauna?
Neoen engages specialist consultants to undertake detailed flora and fauna surveys to determine the ecological attributes of the land.
On all of our projects, we aim to minimise the impact on flora and fauna by designing projects to be constructed outside areas of high conservation significance and adopting control measures during the construction process. During the detailed design, wind turbines will be micro-sited to minimise the potential impact on fauna habitat with turbine heights selected to minimize the overlap between rotor swept area and bird flight heights.
Other mitigation measures include preparing management plans, identifying ‘no-go zones’ within the project site and conducting pre-clearance surveys. Neoen also consults with government departments of environment and biodiversity throughout the development, construction and operational stages of projects, as well as local non-government organisations.
Do wind turbines affect farm/domestic animals?
Neoen built and operates the Hornsdale Wind Farm across numerous properties near Jamestown in South Australia.
Stock including sheep and cattle take a couple of days to get used to wind turbines, and then are very comfortable with them – they rub up against turbines and use the shade from the towers during summer.
Do wind farms harm birds?
While wind farms are sometimes accused of threatening birds, an energy governance study completed in Singapore has shown that wind farms harm 17 times fewer birds per unit of electricity produced than fossil fuel generation.
Studies show that wind farms are probably responsible for impacting birds at rates that are:
- 400 times fewer than cars
- 500 times fewer than pesticides
- 1200 times fewer than high-tension wires.