Offshore turbines a risk
22nd August, 2023
By Mark Dunn, Herald Sun.
Endangered blue and southern right whales could be heavily affected if the government goes ahead with a huge offshore wind farm in a crucial feeding and breeding stretch of water off Victoria’s south-west coast.
The wind farm, 10km off Portland-Warrnambool with possibly 214 turbines up to 250m tall in an area covering 5100sq km of Southern Ocean is being proposed by the federal and state governments.
With eventual capacity of 14GW, it will power the equivalent of 8.4 million homes.
But it sits in a high-conservation blue whale feeding zone, where protected southern right whales also mate, alongside sea lions, penguins, southern bluefin tuna migration and other unique marine, seabird and ecological features.
Worldwide, fewer than 20 major feeding sites for Blue whales have been identified, two of which are in Australian waters: Swan Canyon in Western Australia and the Bonney Upwelling off Victoria’s Otway coast.
The Bonney Upwelling stretching along shelf waters off Portland to Robe in SA is described as one of Australia’s natural wonders where nutrient dense water rises from the deep ocean to the surface, creating a rich feeding ground and attracting an abundance of marine and birdlife each year.
Blue whales are regularly present between December and May, attracted by surface swarms of coastal Krill.
Research scientist Peter Gill, who has studied whales in the area for 25 years, said that while there was plenty of support for renewable energy, the risk to endangered whales in such a “globally significant” habitat was completely unknown, particularly any vibration and noise pollution.
“There is apparent conflict that the government has got to be mindful of – its responsibility to manage endangered species,” Dr Gill said.
“I’m not saying this (off-shore wind) is a bad idea, the blue whales and krill could move through them (wind towers) undaunted, but they could also displace them.
“It is an experimental proposal.
“We just don’t know, there is no large wind farm anywhere near a significant baleen whale population.”
Considered Renewables Portland, a community group, is also pro-renewables but says the region is surrounded on three sides with onshore wind farms and an offshore presence would visually intrude on the Great South West Walk and Ramsar-listed Discovery Bay wetlands.
“We understand climate change is a major issue but we don’t want to put at risk the very species we are trying to protect,” CRP member Ashlee Ludeman said.
The federal Department of the Environment’s own 2015 report, titled Conservation Management Plan for the blue whale, states “marine renewable energy facilities create large amounts of varied underwater noises from a wide range of activities” and says “in Australia marine-based renewable energy facilities are a potential future threat to blue whales through potential displacement”.
The federal government last December declared Star of the South (2.2GW) Australia’s first offshore wind zone, comprising 15,000sq/km in Bass Strait running from Lakes Entrance to Wilsons Promontory, and a second was declared last month off the NSW Hunter Region.
In June, federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen and his Victorian counterpart Lily D’Ambrosio announced a 60 day public consultation period on the Southern Ocean wind project ending on August 31 before longer-term decisions on proposals, scale and environmental assessments.
As part of the Andrews government’s carbon reduction targets of 75-80 per cent by 2035 and net-zero by 2045, it seeks to generate at least 2GW (enough to power about 1.6 million homes) of offshore wind capacity by 2032, 4GW by 2035 and 9GW by 2040.
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