Delburn Wind Farm

Background

The Minister for Planning is considering planning permit applications for the Delburn Wind Farm and associated terminal station.

The proposal seeks approval to develop a 33-turbine wind energy facility located in south-east Victoria, in the Strzelecki Ranges, to the south of the Latrobe Valley.

This requires 3 separate planning permit applications to be lodged:

• PA2001063 (Latrobe)
• PA2001064 (Baw Baw)
• PA2001066 (South Gippsland)

A fourth permit is sought for a terminal station within Latrobe local government area (LGA).

Submissions

The applications are currently on notice, under section 52 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987. This provides an opportunity for parties to submit submissions and objections as part of the permit application process.

All submissions and objections received before 18 August 2021 will be referred to an independent Panel who will consider the proposal.

Following the panel hearing and consideration of all submissions made, a report will be prepared with a recommendation to the Minister for Planning, who will then make a decision on the planning permit applications.

At this stage, we are asking the public whether they would like to provide submissions or objections on the four planning permit applications.

Wind Energy Facility

Delburn Wind Farm Pty Ltd proposes to develop a wind energy facility comprising thirty-three (33) turbines and associated infrastructure (the Project) within south-east Victoria, in the Strzelecki Ranges, to the south of the Latrobe Valley.

The Project Site has a total area of 4,778 hectares and crosses over 3 different Local Government Areas of:

• Latrobe City
• South Gippsland Shire
• Baw Baw Shire

Due to the fact that the site is located across 3 Local Government Areas (Latrobe, Baw Baw and South Gippsland), 3 separate planning permit applications are required to be lodged. These are PA2001063 (Latrobe), PA2001064 (Baw Baw) and PA2001066 (South Gippsland).

The accompanying Delburn Wind Farm Planning Report addresses the requirements of all 3 wind farm permit applications.

Overall, the Project will include the following components:

• Thirty-three wind turbines with:
  • maximum height of 250 metres above foundation level (to the blade tip)
  • maximum rotor diameter of 180 metres
  • a lower tip sweep of not less than 40 metres above foundation level and adjacent hard stand areas
• Three permanent anemometers (or wind monitoring masts) and one ‘development’ anemometer
• An operations and maintenance building
• A battery energy storage system facility
• Approximately 41 kilometres of site access tracks comprising 30 kilometres of existing forestry access tracks to be upgraded and 11 kilometres of new tracks
• Approximately 120 kilometres of underground 33 kv electrical reticulation and fibre optic cabling connecting the wind turbines to the substation including cable junction boxes (located above or below ground level)
• Two visitor information and viewing areas for passing traffic to park and view the turbines
• Major upgrade to one intersection off the Strzelecki highway (Creamery road)
• Minor upgrades to approximately 4.5 kilometres of local roads, including minor hard standing at two intersections off the Strzelecki highway (Golden Gully road, Smiths roadd)
• Business identification signage
• 12.344 hectares of native vegetation removal.

The works proposed within each LGA and the corresponding planning permit approvals required within each LGA is described in the documents within the ‘Documents’ tab above (refer to ‘Planning Summary’ for an overview).

Planning permit applications

The information listed below outlines the details of the four planning permit applications.

Latrobe City Council (PA2001063)

The proposal within Latrobe City Council includes:

• twenty-eight wind turbines
• two visitor information and viewing areas
• battery energy storage system facility
• one major and two minor intersection upgrades and local road upgrades
• 10.591 hectares of native vegetation removal.

South Gippsland Shire Council (PA2001066)

The proposal within South Gippsland Shire Council includes:

• four wind turbines
• 1.670 hectares of native vegetation removal.

Baw Baw Shire Council (PA2001064)

The proposal within the Baw Baw Shire Council includes:

• one wind turbine
• 0.083 hectares of native vegetation removal

Terminal Station (PA2001065)

A separate planning permit application (PA2001065) has been submitted for the proposed terminal station within the Latrobe City LGA.

The terminal station is planned to connect the Delburn wind farm into the existing Hazelwood to Rowville 220kV transmission line.

The application includes two design options/locations, however only one will be built. The application includes:

• 220kv terminal station infrastructure, including gantries, switchyard and transformers
• control and amenities buildings
• business identification signage
• 1.657 hectares of native vegetation removal.

The terminal station has not been included as part of the wind farm application as the terminal station will be owned, operated and managed separately to the wind farm project. This permit application is covered by a standalone permit application report (which can be found under the ‘Documents’ tab above).