Proposed Toolara Forest Wind farm is still years off

The construction timeline for a 226-turbine wind farm between Gympie and Maryborough has pushed out, despite the project getting conditional approval in early 2020. Read about the new delay and vote in the poll:

Labor Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles has said environmental and social assessments for the Forest Wind renewable project proposed for the Toolara Forest are not expected to be finished until late 2024.

A $2 billion wind farm between Gympie and Maryborough is not likely to happen soon, with revelations assessments on the project are still more than a year from completion.

Labor Deputy Premier and State Development Minister Steven Miles made the revelation in response to a Question on Notice about the Forest Wind project at Toolara, which has already been hit with delays.

The project would involve building more 226 turbines across state forest land at Toolara.

Gympie LNP MP Tony Perrett had asked for further details on the completion of planning and environmental assessments for the wind farm, what approvals had been granted, and what the new time frame for the project was.

The state government’s referral agency had given Forest Wind Holdings conditional approval in February 2020.

The Forest Wind proposal for Toolara Forest, which would involve building 226 turbines across the land, was first announced in December 2019 and at one point it was hoped to be running by 2023.

However, in June that same year the federal government determined it needed to be assessed and approved under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act.

A federal Environment Department spokesman said on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, it was still awaiting assessment documentation from Forest Wind, and no approvals had been given.

Mr Miles said in his answer to Mr Perrett the environmental and social assessments were due for completion “in late 2024”.

The project’s construction timeline hinged on their outcome.

Forest Wind has been contacted for comment.

It is the latest slowdown for the project which, at one point, was hoped to be up and running this year.

The wind farm was first revealed in December 2019, only two months before the state government gave it conditional approval.

However LNP MPs Jon Krause and Mark Boothman, who were involved in reporting on the state’s proposed development bill for the project, had accused the government of engaging on work on the proposal for three years before the public was made aware.

The revelations of the new time frame were released in response to a Question on Notice from Gympie LNP MP Tony Perrett, who wanted more details on where the process was at following the news Tilt Renewables had bought a 50 per cent stake in the $2 billion project.

Four months after the state’s approval the federal government made its determination, and in July 2020 it asked for more information about the wind farms impact.

In July 2021 Forest Wind announced it was preparing a report after the federal government requested information about the project.

This would then allow for the federal government to advise on a public notification period for the wind farm.

By August 2022, though, a revision of the project was underway with an update on it being anticipated “by the end of this (2022) calendar year”, and in response to questions the federal Environment Department was still awaiting the requested documentation.

In February 2023, it was announced Australian-based group Tilt Renewables had bought a 50 per cent stake in the project from European group Siemens.

It was hoped this deal would help push the project forward.