The federal government has approved a 100-turbine wind farm on Robbins Island in north-west Tasmania following seven delays to the decision, and multiple court appeals.<\/p>\n
The up-to-900-megawatt facility will be the largest in Tasmania, and will be built on the known migratory path of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.<\/p>\n
The project, by ACEN Australia, required Commonwealth approval due to its potential impact on the parrot, and a facial tumour disease-free population of Tasmanian devils.<\/p>\n
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt has confirmed the project’s approval, after it was delayed seven times by his predecessor, Tanya Plibersek, since 2022.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Orange-bellied parrots are critically endangered. (Supplied: Orange-bellied Parrot Program)<\/p>\n
“The decision includes strict conditions from both the Tasmanian and Australian governments to ensure this project will be constructed and operated in a way that safeguards nationally protected species,” he said.<\/p>\n
“This includes the orange-bellied parrot, Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle and protected migratory shorebirds.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The wind farm project for the island has been 20 years in the making. (Supplied: Rob Blakers)<\/p>\n
Temporary turbine shutdown ‘possible’ to manage impact<\/p>\n
The Commonwealth has placed 88 conditions on the project, including a requirement for a “bird and bat plan” that could require the wind farm to shut down to avoid impacts, Mr Watt said.<\/p>\n
“It’s possible that under that management plan they will be required to have a temporary pause to all or some of those wind turbines,” Mr Watt said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The proposed wind farm turbines (in blue) and detections of critically endangered orange-bellied parrots (in red) from an earlier study. (Supplied: Eric Woehler)<\/p>\n
“That’s a matter that we will now work through with the proponent as they prepare that management plan. That’s a plan that requires my approval.<\/p>\n
“We will be taking any risk of impact from these turbines on these endangered species very seriously.”<\/p>\n
Bar-tailed godwits on Robbins Island, home to many different bird species. (Supplied: Rob Blakers)<\/p>\n
Wind farm won’t be built for years<\/p>\n
Construction is not expected to begin until 2031, and Mr Watt said this would provide time for a comprehensive bird and bat plan to be developed.<\/p>\n
“I can assure all Australians that when it comes time to deciding whether to approve that management plan or not, I will be looking very carefully at what impacts the wind turbines have on any critically endangered or endangered species,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A critically endangered curlew sandpiper on Robbins Island. (Supplied: Rob Blakers)<\/p>\n
Other conditions include “comprehensive surveys” for three years before construction, and ACEN to provide funding for an orange-bellied parrot conservation program.<\/p>\n
While being considered by the Commonwealth, the wind farm faced appeals in Tasmania’s planning tribunal and the Supreme Court, including overturning a condition from Tasmania’s EPA for it to shut down for five months per year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The tidal Robbins Passage separates Robbins Island from mainland Tasmania. (Supplied: Rob Blakers)<\/p>\n
The Tasmanian government also changed its coastal policy to allow structures to be built on actively mobile landforms, with the wind farm proposing a 500-metre jetty across tidal land and beaches.<\/p>\n
It also includes a bridge between Robbins Island and mainland Tasmania.<\/p>\n
ACEN had to address potential impacts on a population of Tasmanian devils on the island that do not have facial tumour disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The federal government has approved a 100-turbine wind farm on Robbins Island in north-west Tasmania following seven delays…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":103414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[74752,18272,64,63,75,25272,31367,17358,13404,74753,74751,128,10650],"class_list":["post-103413","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-approval","tag-approved","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-environment-minister","tag-farm","tag-island","tag-murray-watt","tag-orange-bellied-parrot","tag-robbins","tag-science","tag-wind"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}