{"id":600761,"date":"2026-09-15T04:50:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T04:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600761\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T04:50:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T04:50:34","slug":"renewable-energy-company-wants-to-build-280-turbine-wind-farm-on-tasmanias-west-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/600761\/","title":{"rendered":"Renewable energy company wants to build 280-turbine wind farm on Tasmania’s west coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the numbers, the Whaleback Ridge wind farm proposal is enormous.<\/p>\n

With a planned capital spend of almost $3.5 billion, Westcoast Renewable Energy (WRE) wants to build 280 wind turbines, each up to 250 metres tall at the blade tip, across a 40,000-hectare tract of public land north and west of Zeehan, on Tasmania’s west coast.<\/p>\n

WRE said once operational, after a decade-long construction timeline, the wind farm would be capable of generating 2.8 gigawatts of power, more than the state-owned electricity generator Hydro Tasmania’s capacity.<\/p>\n

\"GFXh_WestWind_14\"<\/p>\n

The 40,500 hectare project area to the north and west of Zeehan, on which Westcoast Renewable Energy intends to erect 280 wind turbines over the next decade.\u00a0 (ABC News)<\/p>\n

The company claims the development would be an economic boon for Zeehan, with up to 350 jobs based in town during construction, and 90 ongoing positions.<\/p>\n

In Zeehan, some residents are excited by that prospect, but a wildlife foundation is critical of the use of public land for a wind farm it believes will threaten native wildlife.<\/p>\n

West coast wind a ‘unique advantage’<\/p>\n

The company has previous form in large-scale wind farm developments, having built and sold the Granville Harbour Wind Farm, which is visible from Whaleback Ridge and started generating power in 2020.<\/p>\n

But the Granville Harbour Wind Farm, with 30 turbines, is much smaller than what is proposed for Whaleback Ridge. And it was built on private farmland.<\/p>\n

The bulk of the Whaleback Ridge proposal, north and west of Zeehan, would be built on three reserves: the Meredith Range, Parting Creek and Mount Heemskirk regional reserves.<\/p>\n

\"Stephen<\/p>\n

Stephen Casey says the wind on the west coast is a “unique advantage” for Tasmania. (ABC News: Mackenzie Heard)<\/p>\n

WRE chief executive Stephen Casey, a former TasPorts and Incat boss and a former BHP mining executive, compared the quality and consistency of wind on the west coast to a rich iron ore seam in Western Australia’s Pilbara desert:<\/p>\n

“It is a unique advantage for Tasmania and something we can really contribute to the transition to renewable energies across Australia.”<\/p>\n

Mr Casey said the company intended to privately finance the entire multi-billion-dollar project, and had no plans to seek public funding.<\/p>\n

He said that pending state and federal government approvals, the company hoped to start construction on the first phase \u2014 70 turbines capable of generating up to 432 megawatts \u2014 in late 2028.<\/p>\n

He also said energy-hungry data centres, several of which are currently being planned or built in Tasmania,<\/a> were being considered as potential users of the project’s power.<\/p>\n

Whaleback Ridge is currently being assessed under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, and in 2024 the state government declared the proposal a major project, meaning it will be assessed by a Tasmanian Planning Commission panel at the state level.<\/p>\n

The project has been downsized substantially since 2024, when it was aiming to build 500 turbines and create hundreds of permanent jobs and thousands of construction jobs.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, WRE announced former Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein as its chair.<\/p>\n

Questions over use of public land<\/p>\n

Bob Brown Foundation campaigner Scott Jordan said the project was “terrible”, and he questioned why public land would be allowed to be used for a large-scale private development.<\/p>\n

He said it would put at risk native Tasmanian species such as the wedge-tailed eagle and the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot.<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Scott Jordan says the Whaleback Ridge wind farm will threaten native Tasmanian wildlife. (ABC News: Mackenzie Heard)<\/p>\n

He also dismissed the company’s claims that its turbines and associated works would only disrupt 500 hectares of the 40,000-hectare site.<\/p>\n

“If we put a tower in the middle of the [MCG], its footprint is going to be fairly small, but you can’t play football anymore,” he said.<\/p>\n

“To pretend the physical impact is the extent of the total impact is a fallacy.”<\/p>\n

Mr Jordan said the foundation was not opposed to renewable energy projects, but that they must not come at a cost to the environment.<\/p>\n

“If the profit is coming before the environment, then their credibility doesn’t stack up,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Orange-bellied<\/p>\n

The company says it has chosen turbine locations to avoid the orange-bellied parrot’s migration path. (Supplied: NRE Tas)<\/p>\n

Mr Casey said the company had been surveying the site for several years and had chosen specific turbine locations to avoid the orange-bellied parrot’s migration route.<\/p>\n

“We know the path of the birds, and we’re making sure we’re building further away from there,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said the company was committed to building its turbines where they had the least environmental impact, and that it would continue to have conversations with its opponents.<\/p>\n

Cautious hope to see Zeehan ‘thrive again’<\/p>\n

In town, some residents are cautiously optimistic about the economic claims WRE has made.<\/p>\n

Luke Munro moved to Zeehan about a year ago to buy land and start a barber shop, which he said people were lining up for even as he was still building the shop’s fixtures.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Luke Munro, originally from New South Wales, recently moved to Zeehan and opened a barber shop. (ABC News: Mackenzie Heard)<\/p>\n

Mr Munro said wind farms were “majestic”, but that “nothing is perfect” when it comes to renewable energy production.<\/p>\n

“I know a lot of people don’t share that same thought, but I think it’s a lot better than digging up dinosaurs and burning them,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Man<\/p>\n

Andrew Cronin and his wife recently purchased property in Zeehan, and are optimistic about the proposal.\u00a0 (ABC News: Mackenzie Heard)<\/p>\n

Andrew Cronin is familiar with Zeehan’s storied history as a mining town and the one-time economic centre of Tasmania, and has hope for its future.<\/p>\n

“Zeehan was one of the biggest cities in Tasmania many years ago, so it would be good to see it thriving again.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On the numbers, the Whaleback Ridge wind farm proposal is enormous. With a planned capital spend of almost…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":600762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[10894,180797,1667,273,111,139,69,9999,5965,147,9997,1241,296038,10000,124449,296039,42062],"class_list":["post-600761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ai-data","tag-bob-brown-foundation","tag-energy","tag-environment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-renewable","tag-renewable-energy","tag-science","tag-tasmania","tag-west-coast","tag-whaleback-ridge","tag-wind","tag-wind-farm","tag-wre","tag-zeehan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=600761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/600761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/600762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=600761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=600761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=600761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}