The Australian state of Victoria is committing A$3.8 million ($2.5 mln) to develop tools and guidelines for renewable energy project developers to avoid harming local biodiversity, it announced Wednesday.

The impacts of renewable energy projects on the natural environment have become a global point of contention as the transition to low emissions energy gathers pace.

Environmental groups have raised alarm over the impacts renewable energy projects can have on threatened and endangered wildlife and the environment when built in the wrong place.

The issue has also been used by groups opposed to renewable energy projects for aesthetic or less-tangible ideological reasons.

The Victorian Labor government said by July it would release new state-wide maps that identify key habitat areas for native wildlife which would help renewable energy developers to build projects in areas that will have the least impact on wildlife.

“This is about giving communities and industry certainty that native wildlife will be protected while we build the renewable energy required to drive down power bills and cut emissions,” state Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio said.

By October, the government said research would be completed to better understand how wind turbines could impact threatened birds and bat species.

This will determine the flight height of the Southern Bent-wing Bat, ways to reduce bird and bat collisions with turbines, and detailed research on Brolga breeding sites so they can be protected, it said.

The research will inform the government’s “Handbook for the development of renewable energy in Victoria”, which will hold new guidelines on the planning and construction of renewable energy projects in the state that must be followed, the government said.

“These new tools will help ensure we mitigate biodiversity impacts while we get more renewable projects off the ground to help Victoria transition to cleaner, cheaper energy,” Minister for Planning Sonya Kilkenny said.

The government said the handbook would include a new list of at-risk wildlife that renewable energy developers will need to consider in their planning and measures they can take to prevent harm to those species. It will also include a template for bat and bird management plans.

This will give industry access to the best scientific and mapping information available so they can factor the protection of our precious wildlife early on in the planning phase – resulting in a more efficient and timely approval process.

The handbook will be finalised following public consultation and engagement with Traditional Owners and industry, the government said.

Amelia Young, national campaigns director for the Wilderness Society, told Carbon Pulse the guidelines “must be a commitment to absolute best practice, including the free, prior, and informed consent of First Nations peoples, the integration of traditional ecological knowledge, genuine consultation with affected communities, and prohibiting the use of intact and undeveloped land or critical species habitat”.

“How Australia does renewables matters – for climate, for nature, and for people. Tools, guidelines, and regulations from state and federal governments are crucial if we are to avoid repeating the same fossil fuel mistakes that landed us in this crisis to begin with,” she said.

“Destroying forests or natural ecosystems for renewables in order to protect them from climate change is untenable.”

BIGGER PICTURE

Multiple studies have found wind turbines to impact bird and bat populations, either through deaths from direct collisions with the blades or by species avoiding the area, leading to habitat loss.

Wind farm project developers are implementing a variety of ways to reduce bird and bat collisions, including deploying artificial owl decoys, as well as motion sensors to slow turbine blades’ rotation when it detects movement.

However, the impacts of wind turbines on wildlife pale in comparison to other anthropogenic impacts, including vehicle collisions, pollution, and predators, particularly cats, according to research.

The issue remains pertinent for Victoria however, given that it has legislated targets to achieve 95% renewable generation by 2035.

This includes offshore wind targets of 2.6GW under management by 2032, rising to 4GW in 2035, and 9GW by 2040.

Earlier this week the federal Australian government rejected a proposed 42-turbine windfarm project in Queensland which was slated to be built near a wet-tropics world heritage area.

Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the effects of the project on nature were too great and could not be accommodated, despite developer Ark Energy saying a “huge effort” had been made to minimise the project’s environmental impact.

By Mark Tilly – mark@carbon-pulse.com

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