Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Introduction
The Bluff Point and Studland Bay Wind Farms in north-west Tasmania (Fig.
1
,
currently owned and operated by Woolnorth Wind Farm Holding Pty Ltd) were
approved by Commonwealth and State Regulators in 2001 - under the previous
name, the Woolnorth Wind Farm - and commenced operation in 2002 and 2007,
respectively. They were approved subject to a suite of permit conditions and com-
mitments, including monitoring, offsets and management actions. In 2007 the
Woolnorth Wind Farm was formally split into the Bluff Point (BPWF) and Studland
Bay (SBWF) Wind Farms and they are now regulated under two separate Tasmanian
Environmental Protection Notices, in addition to the Approval conditions under the
Commonwealth
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
.
Two species of eagles are resident at both wind farms (nesting onsite and nearby),
the Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle
Aquila audax fl eayi
(WTE) and the white-bellied
sea-eagle
Haliaeetus leucogaster
(WBSE). During the assessment of the Woolnorth
Wind Farm, both species were identifi ed as potentially at risk of collision with tur-
bines (see Hydro Tasmania
2000
), which prompted the permit conditions, designed
to document any impacts or to minimise the impact of the wind farms on both species,
or in the case of offsets, to have a net positive effect on the species.
Fig. 1
Location of the Bluff Point and Studland Bay Wind Farms
