Around 70 people attended the Gannawarra Shire Council’s (GSC) renewable energy day. The day commenced in the Kerang Memorial Hall with GSC Executive Manager of Economic Development Roger Griffith and Shire CEO Geoff Rollinson to promote the renewables industry they are working hard to attract to the region.

“It’s an ideal climate for solar and wind. Back in February, I saw a graph that said Gannawarra Solar Farm was the best performing solar farm in Australia; the resource here is fantastic,” said Mr Griffith as he addressed the crowd.

“We have significant areas of dewatered and unproductive land, the first AEMO option was Kerang Link in 2019 and 2020.

“I often get people saying we’re trying to push agriculture out for energy, I won’t say what I think of that comment, we’re trying to diversify agriculture.”

According to the figure produced by Gannawarra Shire Council, 80 farming businesses are involved in energy projects, and the council forecasts farmer payments to be in the region of $30 million per annum.

The GSC is also banking on annual PiLor payments of $5-7 million per annum to the organisation.

The jobs forecast for the projects were 2,500 during construction and 75 permanent jobs in energy.

The council also forecasts local spending on construction materials of $200 million and $70-350 million in hospitality as the conservative estimates.

Mr Griffith took aim at critics who raised concerns about the industrial renewable energy projects.

“It’s interesting, Rollo, we hear a lot of stories of how farmers have to pull them down when they’re finished,” said Mr Griffith.

“No, that’s not true. It’s all part of the agreement that goes into it,” added Mr Rollinson.

“We have a detailed estimate of what the decommissioning is going to cost, and we also have a decommissioning fund, or a bank guarantee or a bond that starts getting put away to undertake the decommissioning,” continued Mr Griffith.

“Farmers are not responsible for decommissioning, so when Jack at the pub tells you that, you’re wrong, Jack!”

The [Koondrook and Barham] Bridge did reach out to a ‘Jack’. ‘Jack’, a local landholder, has a proposed wind turbine development contract. ‘Jack’ detailed that while the contract makes allowances for decommissioning, the contract states that no monies are paid into the decommissioning fund in the first 10 years, and less than a quarter will be paid at year 20. The landholder must also release the developer from any rehabilitation obligations if they on sell the projects. Site rehabilitation is also only undertaken to a depth of less than 1 metre, leaving the estimated 2,000 tonnes of concrete per turbine buried on farm.

It may be prudent for landholders looking to host an industrial renewable project to seek independent legal advice.

“We’ve got four wind projects, six solar and six battery, around 4,800 megawatts of generation and I say proposed, because it’s only proposed,” stated Mr Griffith.

“To put that into context, coal is generating 4,500 megawatts at the moment,” added Mr Rollinson.

“Of the 480,000 megawatts, around 3,900 of that is wind and the remainder is proposed to be solar,” said Mr Griffith.

“Energy will take up about 0.6 per cent of the land in Gannawarra.

“We might get people running around saying all of Gannawarra is going to be covered in wind and solar and powerlines. There’s a word I want to use but I won’t: 0.6 per cent of the land, less than 1 per cent of the land in Gannawarra will be taken up with energy.

“Energy is not a threat to agriculture; water trading is a threat to agriculture.”

Following the presentation by GSC, energy businesses Edify Energy, Gentari, VicGrid, Transmission Company Victoria and the Australian Energy Market Operator all presented on the benefits of a renewable industry in Gannawarra.

Two buses then took the attendees to look at recent solar and battery constructions west of Kerang.

The solar panels viewed had an estimated lifespan of 25 years but were likely to be replaced sooner due to the availability of more efficient panels, and the latest Californian-manufactured Tesla batteries had an estimated lifespan of 25 years, including a deterioration curve.

This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 24 October 2024.