THE SAPPHIRE wind farm has had its proposed changes approved by the Department of Planning and Environment albeit with conditions that respond directly to issues raised by the community.
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The project has a capital investment value of more than $400 million with the potential to create 250 construction jobs and generate 300 megawatts of clean energy for NSW consumers, enough to power around 130,000 homes every year.
CWP Renewables application involved a number of changes to the approved Sapphire Wind Farm such as reducing the number of wind turbines from 159 to 109, increasing the maximum wind turbine tip height from 157 to 200 metres, increasing the maximum rotor diameter from 126 to 140 metres, reducing the number of transmission lines and minor changes to internal road network and electrical design.
The Department received 17 submissions, including eight from the general public and two from a special interest group, six community submissions objected to the modification.
A spokesman for the Department said the key issues identified during consultation include visual and noise impacts on nearby residents, and aviation impacts on the Glen Innes Aerodrome as a result of the larger turbines.
“These issues have been assessed by the Department and strict conditions have been applied in response,” the spokesman said.
“The conditions include voluntary acquisition rights, or the option to enter into an agreement with the applicant for those residences predicted to experience high visual impacts and strict noise limits updated to reflect current NSW Government policy.
“There is also a requirement for further consultation to be undertaken with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to confirm aviation hazard lighting requirements.”
CWP Renewables chief operating officer Edward Mounsey said the change in plans was in response to the availability of new best in class wind energy technology.
“New turbine designs have increased in size and improved efficiency, which means fewer machines, will be needed to produce the equivalent output of the previous higher numbers of turbines,” he said.
“Overall, the changes will reduce the impacts of the project, whilst allowing the economic and environmental benefits to be realised.”
