‘Wildlife killer’ Robbins Island wind farm approved, with ‘strict’ conditions
It’s either a ‘wildlife killer’ or a renewables saviour, depending on who you believe, but a major wind farm proposed for a remote Tasmanian Island will proceed, with Albanese government backing.
The “wildlife killer’’ Robbins Island wind farm has been approved, with “significant’’ conditions to address concerns about a host of avian species, including the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot, and Tasmanian devils.
ACEN Australia’s Robbins Island 100 turbine wind farm, off Tasmania’s northwest tip, is one of the biggest private projects in Tasmanian history but has created concerns for a raft of endangered and other species.
Conditions imposed by Environment Minister Murray Watt seek to reduce impacts from the contentious $3bn, 900MW wind farm.
“Today’s decision takes into account a wide range of expert scientific evidence and follows a rigorous assessment process,” Senator Watt said.
“The decision includes strict conditions from both the Tasmanian and Australian governments to ensure this project will be constructed and operated in a way that safeguards nationally protected species.
“This includes the orange-bellied parrot, Tasmanian devil, Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle and protected migratory shorebirds.”
Conditions include three years of OBP survey work prior to construction to determine exactly how much the species uses and over-flies the island to “inform risk management during operations”.
ACEN will be required to help fund the OBP conservation program, which breeds and releases more birds into the wild, and to support OBP research and adaptive land management measures.
ACEN hailed the outcome, after eight years of planning assessments, as “important for the Tasmanian economy, the nation’s energy transition and the renewable energy industry more broadly”.
“The decision shows that large, complex projects can be delivered responsibly, balancing overall impacts and conserving biodiversity, with the need for clean energy to address climate change,” said managing director David Pollington.
“It comes at a time when Australia faces a stalling energy transition and looming power shortages as coal exits the system. It also reflects the depth and rigour of ACEN’s work to address the assessment criteria and scrutiny applied through the approvals process.”
However, the Bob Brown Foundation attacked the project as a “wildlife killer” and it is expected to face a challenge it in the Federal Court, with conservationists and bird experts arguing it is disastrously located and that impacts cannot be sufficiently mitigated.
“Robbins Island should never have been accepted as the site for a mega-windfarm of 100 turbines because it is at the southern end of the East Asian Australian flyway,” said former Greens leader and BBF patron Christine Milne. “Migratory birds flying from Arctic Siberia will hit the turbines.
“Murray Watt’s assurances that he will set strict conditions are a joke. Even more offensive is that ACEN will pay for the bird monitoring - as if anyone would believe the corporation would release the truth about its impact on critically endangered birds.
“The last disease-free population of Tasmanian Devils in Tasmania is on Robbins Island, and the bridge ACEN will build from the mainland will see the disease reach the island.”
The 9,900ha island is in a globally-acclaimed wetlands and haven for legions of migratory and resident birds, including the critically endangered OBP, and for the last wild, disease-free Tasmanian devils.
Opponents of the project argue its 1.2km bridge to the Tasmanian mainland will expose the only remaining disease-free truly wild population of Tasmanian devils to the facial tumour disease decimating the iconic species.
Senator Watt said the approval required barriers to be installed on the bridge to “avoid” devils from the mainland accessing the island and infecting its disease-free population.
ACEN and supporters of the project argue devils can already cross to the island at low tide, that the parrot is at best a rare and infrequent visitor to the island and that other impacts can be mitigated or offset.
The decision does not follow a state Environment Protection Authority directive, overturned on appeal, requiring the wind farm to shut down for five months of the year to protect migrating OBPs.
However, Senator Watt told The Australian a management plan requiring shutdowns of turbines if needed would be enforced and the approval was not a licence to kill birds.
“People can look to the fact that we have imposed those additional conditions beyond what the Tasmanian government required as evidence that we are taking the environmental issues here seriously,” he said. “We didn’t just wave this through…
“We don’t believe there will be any (OBPs or other birds) killed as result of these conditions. The aim … is to put in place conditions that prevent the loss of species. Also, we’re requiring the proponent to contribute to increasing the number of OBPs.”
He was “very confident” the decision would “stand up in court”.
Nala Mansell, of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, condemned the decision as “environmental racism”. “Our ancestors lived, died and were buried there - the Minister’s refusal to even acknowledge Aboriginal heritage shows a double standard that would never be applied to the graves of white people.” said Ms Mansell said.
“Pilitika (Robbins Is) is one of lutruwita/Tasmania’s most sacred Aboriginal places. But instead of protecting it, the minister has signed off on its desecration.”
Senator Watt said construction would begin in 2031, creating 350 temporary jobs and up to 50 ongoing operational positions.
“The wind farm is expected to generate enough energy to power 422,000 homes, supporting Australia’s renewable energy transition,” Senator Watt said.
Tasmanian Liberal Energy Minister Nick Duigan welcomed the decision as long overdue. “These are the kinds of new renewable energy developments we want in the state to underpin our energy needs,” he said.
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