Wind Farms and Citizen Science

One of the aims of Oberon Citizen Science Network (OCSN) is to engage with STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) issues of relevance to the Oberon LGA community. Perhaps the most contentious and potentially divisive issues to be faced in the immediate future are the proposals to build substantial wind farms in or adjacent to the large pine forests in the southern part of Oberon LGA. Details of these proposed projects are provided below. It is the intention of OCSN to contribute to the debate around these projects and to help inform decision-making processes through projects designed to collect and analyse scientific data of relevance. Some of these potential OCSN initiatives and projects are discussed below.

Note

OCSN does not take a position on whether any of the wind farms proposed for the southern part of Oberon LGA should proceed. As a science-based organisation, OCSN accepts the fact of anthropogenic climate change and the urgent need to de-carbonise economies worldwide. However, this does not mean it has a position on the proposed Paling Yards and Pines winds farms. It does have a strong position, however, on the need for sound scientific evidence and engineering information to inform decisions about these proposed developments, which represent major, industrial-scale construction projects erecting huge moving structures in what is entirely rural, high country setting. As noted on the FrogID page, there were significant deficiencies in the data used and considered the Biodiversity Development Assessment Report for the proposed Paling Yards Wind Farm, which was part of its EIS submission. OCSN intends to ensure that such deficiencies are remedied for the proposed Pines Wind Farm (and are surfaced and thoroughly discussed in any further consideration of the Paling Yards proposal).

The proposed Paling Yards Wind Farm

Details of this proposed development as provided by the developer can be found here and the EIS submission for the development here.

More detailed consideration of the scientific data gaps relating to this proposal will appear here on the OCSN web site in due course. Although the very brief call for public comment in the Paling Yards EIS has closed, it is expected that the development will be subject to a further enquiry and OCSN hopes to make submissions to that process, at least with regard to the adequacy of the science and engineering considerations reflected in the current EIS.

Further evidence of the inadequacy of the EIS for the Paling Yards wind farm proposal can be seen in the response to the Biodiversity Development Assessment Report (BDAR) in the EIS prepared by the Biodiversity, Conservation and Science Directorate of the NSW Department of Planning and Environment. The response is available here and is scathing.

Wind farm visual impact assessment capability work-in-progress

Oberon Citizen Science Network is collaborating with Emeritus Professor James Palmer, an expert in landscape assessment at State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, on creating state-of-the-art visual impact assessment metrics of proposed wind farms. The first four in a series of blog posts documenting these development efforts using the proposed Palings Yard wind farm as an example, are now available:

Work is currently under way to calculate these visual impact assessment metrics for the proposed Pines Wind farm, now that the developers have released details of the number and locations of the proposed turbine – more details here in the near future.

The proposed Pines Wind Farm

A very large wind farm development is proposed in the Gurnang, Vulcan and Mount David state forests, which are largely (but not exclusively) pine plantations managed by the Forestry Corporation of NSW. This development has been enabled by recent changes to the relevant NSW legislation pertaining to Forestry Corporation management of state forests, permitting up to 0.7% of state forest softwood plantation areas to be used for renewable energy projects. The developers of the proposed Pines Wind Farm are TAG Energy and Stromlo Energy.

The interactive map below shows the exploration area granted to the developers by Forestry Corporation NSW for possible location of the proposed wind farm in (largely) state forest areas. The exploration area is shaded in red, and the existing 500 kVA transmission line to Taralga to which the wind farm must connect shown as a blue line. In early October 2024 the developers released details of the proposed size and layout of the wind farm – they indicated a 2,000 megawatt nameplate capacity comprising 250 turbines up to 300 m high, although only 242 proposed turbine locations were included on the map provided on their web site. Those proposed turbine locations are also shown on the map below. Gazetted protected riparian areas identified by the NSW government for biodiversity protection purposes are also shown (note there are some issues with the GIS files provided by the NSW government for these areas which we are trying to resolve, but the areas shown are accurate, albeit with a few unwanted extra lines).

Visualising the proposed Pines Wind farm using Google Earth Pro

OCSN has prepared a set of 3D models of the proposed Pines Wind Farm which can be viewed using the free Google Earth Pro software. These models and detailed instructions on how to use them are available here. If you follow the instructions for viewing the models, they will give a reasonable approximation of the visual impact of the proposed wind farm from any given location, if it is built.

OCSN plans which may help inform wind farm decision making processes

Following is a list of potential activities which OCSN may engage in to help inform debate and decision making around wind farm developments. Not all these activities may proceed, it depends on the support for them by OCSN members, and in some cases, on the success of OCSN in obtaining government, philanthropic or other funding to support these initiatives. Collaboration with scientists with particular areas of expertise in universities and research institutes will also be required, and OCSN is actively seeking such partnerships and collaboration with suitable research groups in several of these areas.

Note

Apart from funding from government grant schemes and philanthropic donors, OCSN intends to seek financial contributions from the wind farm developers themselves, to support projects such as systematic wildlife surveys in and around the proposed wind farm development areas using time-lapse cameras and eco-acoustic technology. We believe that such funding would represent a show of good will and openness on the part of the proposed wind farm developers. However, funding will not be accepted if there are conditions on publication of the results of OCSN investigations, and if all data collected cannot be made openly and publicly available. As a principle, all OCSN funding sources will be clearly listed on this web site – OCSN is committed to openness and transparency.

Update: An application submitted by OCSN to the August 2024 round of the Pines Wind Farm community funding program was unsuccessful – full details of the application are available here.

Review of the adequacy of scientific data and engineering considerations in the Paling Yards EIS submission, in anticipation of an opportunity for further public input into the decision making processes around this proposed development.
Assemble a set of informational resources around the science and engineering aspects of wind farm construction and operation.
Detailed mapping and photographic documentation of the remnant native forest areas in the Pines Wind farm exploration area (see map above). Although the Gurnang, Vulcan and Mount David state forests are predominantly pine plantations, they nevertheless still contain or are bordered by native high country forest cover, particularly along waterways (see the protected riparian areas on the interavtive map above). These native vegetation areas are likely to provide both refuge and transit corridors for native flora and fauna, and thus need to be carefully assessed and be given due consideration when assessing wind farm development proposals. This mapping work may be able to be done as a desktop exercise using high-resolution aerial photograph databases, but on-the-ground validation by OCSN working parties is likely to be needed too.
Document the hydrological characteristics of the areas for the proposed wind farms. Wind farms are typically located on higher ground, such as along ridge tops, in order to minimise ground turbulence and maximise the amount of wind power they can harvest. However, such higher areas are also typically the source of streams, creeks and rivers. Given the scale of construction needed for these proposed wind farms – the proposed Pines Wind farm will be the largest, or one of the largest, in Australia – very careful consideration must be given to the impact of such construction on water quality (and volume) in the riparian (river) systems that have their headwaters in or near the areas in which the turbines are proposed to be built. Possible impacts on water quality from accidents during the many decades of operation of these wind farms must also be considered. Such impacts might arise from, for example, oil leaks or spills from the gearboxes in the nacelle of each turbine.

Important

According to this web page published by a commercial laboratory that specialises in testing lubricants used in wind turbines, a 5MW turbine gearbox contains about 2,600 litres of synthetic lubricant which needs to be chnaged every 9 to 16 months, as well as hydraulic fluids. Multiply that by 250 turbines and the potential for lubricant spill accidents at some stage during the several decades of operational life of the wind farm would seem to be quite high. Exactly how high, and what the consequences of such spill incidents might be on waterways and the wildlife in them (as well as the potential impact on animal and human water supplies) needs very careful investigation.

Stream and water body water quality monitoring. As noted above, because they include some of the highest altitudes in the NSW Central Tablelands, the proposed wind farm areas encompass the headwaters of several creeks and waterways which form or flow into some of the high country rivers which run through Oberon LGA. These headwaters are themselves likely to be ecologically significant, but they also affect the ecology of downstream rivers such as the Duckmaloi, which is known to be one of the very few high country refuges for our nationally-dwindling platypus population. Thus, OCSN will seek to implement water quality monitoring in key waterways likely to be affected by wind farm development, given that the proposed wind farms represent large-scale construction projects involving significant road building and widening, deep foundation excavation and other earthworks which may impact the local riparian environments in ways which timber logging does not. This monitoring will involve periodic water sample collection and analysis, or could involve automated continuous remote monitoring of metrics such as water turbidity, undertaken under the auspices of the NSW government Waterwatch program.
Undertaking systematic frog population surveys along waterways and water bodies in and around the proposed wind farm areas, in collaboration with the FrogID research team led by Dr Jodi Rowley at the Australian Museum in Sydney. The feasibility of developing automated monitoring devices for key target species will also be examined.
Undertaking systematic platypus and rakali surveys along waterways and water bodies in and around the proposed wind farm areas, particularly the upper Duckmaloi and Tuglow Rivers, in collaboration with platypus and rakali researchers at several academic instituions. Some examples of successful platypus detection by OCSN in teh upper Duckmaloi River can be found on the Gallery page. See also our platypus and rakali page.
Establish a BirdNET monitoring network in Oberon LGA, with particular emphasis in and around the proposed wind farm development areas.
- BirdNET appears to be a good solution for monitoring populations of many types of birds, but it is not suitable for monitoring birds-of-prey, which are potentially vulnerable to being affected by wind turbines, since they may occupy the same air space as the spinning turbine blades. Thus, OCSN will seek to evaluate the potential for automated birds-of-prey monitoring as described in this intriguing scientific paper (and/or similar ideas).
Provide an open, freely-accessible zone of visual influence and visual impact analysis facility for the proposed wind farms. The zone of visual influence, sometimes called a reverse or inverse viewshed, is the geographic area from which a development or other structure is theoretically visible, at various sizes. Stromlo Energy, one of the developers of the proposed Pines Wind Farm, has indicated that it plans to provide such a facility to the community through individual consultations. That is fine, but the ability to assess visual impact independent of the wind farm developers is also important, and it is also a potentially interesting and educational community project involving geography, geometry and information technology. Please see the series of blog posts mentioned above for more details.
Investigate the audible noise characteristics of wind turbines and, if feasible, develop mathematical modelling capability to estimate noise levels at specific locations.
Develop a background noise monitoring program to survey or continuously monitor noise levels in and around the proposed wind farm areas.
Further investigation of the capabilities of Raspberry Shake & Boom devices to detect and monitor infrasound generated by wind turbines and other sources. This may involve establishing some positive control monitoring sites near existing wind turbines of the same (or smaller) scale as those proposed for Oberon LGA. The possibility of testing monitoring capability for infrasound generated by the two small, first-generation wind turbines which are visible from Jenolan Caves Road at Hampton will be investigated, if a suitable host site can be found. See also this blog post for a description of work-in-progress on infrasound monitoring.
Roll out of an expanded Raspberry Shake & Boom (RS&B) device network across Oberon LGA, but with particular emphasis on the areas in and adjacent to the proposed wind farm developments, to monitor baseline and (if the proposals proceed) operational infrasound. The RS&B devices are sensitive enough to detect blasting, rock excavation and even heavy truck movements nearby, which may also be useful during construction phases.

Work-in-progress

All this is a work-in-progress, and we welcome other ideas! Please register your expression of interest if you would like to be involved in any of these potential projects.