Backlash over renewables rollout pushes projects into native species habitat

A backlash against renewable energy and transmission line projects on private properties is pushing developments into the habitats of critical native species in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, sparking warnings from conservationists that such sites are being lost.

Wind and solar farms have already knocked down thousands of hectares of prime habitat for threatened species, which is a trigger for an extra layer of scrutiny on the development under national environment laws.

Environmental backlash is impeding the renewables rollout.Credit: Bloomberg

More projects impacting threatened species are coming through the national environment regime now, but the Albanese government is caught between twin pledges to more than double renewable energy in the grid while ending Australia’s steady stream of native species extinctions.

The Euston wind farm in south-west NSW is proposing to construct around 96 turbines near the Willandra Lakes World Heritage area. It is likely to include clearing of many hundreds of hectares.

The project, adjacent to the Mallee Cliffs National Park, has triggered assessment under federal law due to expected impacts to threatened bird species like the diamond firetail finch, Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, southern whiteface, malleefowl and regent parrot.

Melbourne University professor Brendan Wintle, a director of independent expert group the Biodiversity Council, said the onshore renewable projects needed to switch off fossil fuels would only occupy an area less than 2 per cent of Australia’s landmass. Wind and solar projects should be limited to land that has already been cleared, he said.

“We support a rapid transition to a renewable energy economy. Absolutely, this has to be done. If we want to stop ongoing loss of biodiversity in already highly damaged landscapes, we’ve got to stop targeting natural vegetation for these sorts of developments,” Wintle said.

Australia’s extinction rate is one of the worst in the world, with about 100 of Australia’s unique flora and fauna species wiped out since colonisation, and 1900 threatened species now at a heightened risk of extinction. Plibersek has promised to halt native species extinctions.

Land clearing is one of the two major causes of extinctions, along with invasive species like cats.

The renewables push is also spurring controversial marine developments like the Port of Hastings in Victoria, where the state government has proposed a new terminal to import wind turbine components.

It was rejected by the Albanese government due to the impact on threatened waterbirds and potential damage to wetlands that are protected by the Ramsar Convention.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has vowed to keep pushing the state’s plan for a new port terminal in protected wetlands south-east of Melbourne. Allan has a pressing deadline. The government has pledged to install a whopping 9 gigawatts of offshore wind generation capacity by 2040 – roughly 25 per cent of the grid’s current capacity.

The huge Golden Plains Windfarm at Rokewood, 40 kilometres south of Ballarat, is currently installing 230 turbines. It also triggered environmental laws because it cleared a relatively small area, 40 hectares, of Victorian volcanic plain grassland that is critically endangered because it has almost been wiped out, largely by livestock grazing.

Conservation group the Victorian National Parks Association has been a prominent campaigner against now-outlawed native forest logging in the state. Now it’s calling for new rules from the federal government to prevent development of offshore windfarms and onshore renewables in high-value conservation areas to prevent wildlife losses.

Marine campaigner Shannon Hurley echoed the Biodiversity Council’s support for rapid renewables rollout to cut emissions, but said that such developments, if left unchecked, “could create as many problems as we solve”.

“We can nip in the bud the sort of issues that led to the Port of Hastings project being rejected because of unacceptable environmental risks,” Hurley said.

Campaigns by farmers and regional communities against developments on private properties are making it harder for wind and solar farm developers to cut agreements with landholders. Developers instead seek to use undeveloped land, where fewer conflicts will arise. But these sites are often remnant habitat for threatened species.

Renewables developers say slow environmental approvals are a major factor in the big slowdown in 2023 of new financial commitments in grid-scale generation capacity from $6.5 billion in 2022 to $1.5 billion.

This is a threat to the Albanese government’s signature climate agenda because replacing coal with more renewables is the cornerstone of the policy and its goal to cut emissions by 43 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030.

Clean Energy Council senior policy officer Bronya Lipski said it was appropriate to prioritise renewables development on cleared land. But she argued it may not always be possible to find sites with enough wind and solar capacity that are also close enough to existing transmission lines to make projects financially viable for investors.

“Where cleared area is tens or hundreds of kilometres away from the grid or existing transmission infrastructure, developers are unlikely to consider those cleared areas for establishing renewable energy generation. And any additional costs associated with constructing that infrastructure will be passed onto energy consumers,” Lipski said.

“The more interesting question is how do we all work together to get renewables built and restore impacted areas rather than pitting two fundamentally connected things against each other.”

The most imminent test of national environment laws is from the Wooroora Station Wind Farm in North Queensland, which is seeking to clear more than 500 hectares of native vegetation to build a 42 turbine project. The site boundary comes to within about one kilometre to the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Area.

A decision is expected this month from Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek because the project could impact nationally listed threatened species including koalas, the magnificent brood frog, northern greater glider and masked owl.

Ark Energy is developing the Wooroora project and says it will leave the environment in better condition, with rehabilitation of 70 per cent of the disturbed area and ensuring preservation of nearly 7000 hectares of threatened species habitat in adjacent areas to offset the impact.

Plibersek’s office was contacted for comment.

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