Hostility Mounts: Offshore Wind Power Disaster Attracts Serious Onshore Opposition

There’s no real argument in favour of offshore wind power, and plenty of serious arguments against. Start with the absolutely staggering cost, which has major proponents demanding even greater subsidies from taxpayers and/or higher prices in the guaranteed power contracts they ink with governments. With governments increasingly refusing to play ball, proponents are simply dropping their grand offshore projects.

The knock-on effect for wind turbine manufacturers such as Siemens is little short of catastrophic: Siemens Energy shares plummeted 40% last week, slashing 3 billion euros ($3.16 billion) off its market value, after Siemens revealed it was demanding billions in government backed guarantees from the German government. In short, things have never looked worse.

Then there is the mounting opposition to offshore wind, coming from sensible energy advocates, situated onshore. As to which, here’s a story from the Great Lakes Advocate about plans to spear hundreds of these things off the New South Wales coast.

Dr Gillespie recently joined close to 2000 people, and addressed an anti-wind farm rally in Port Stephens
Great Lakes Advocate
22 October 2023

Wind farms are not the solution for retiring baseload generators, Member for Lyne, David Gillespie says.

Sharing his opposition to a proposed offshore windfarm in Port Stephens, Dr Gillespie said they would increase grid instability, destroy the environment and result in an increase in electricity costs.

He said this trillion dollar-plus energy plan was something the country could not afford.

Dr Gillespie recently joined close to 2000 people, and addressed an anti-wind farm rally in Port Stephens.

“I can assure all of the people who have expressed their concerns about this project that I am absolutely opposed to this development which will have a significant negative impact on our region and the people of Australia,” Dr Gillespie said.

Both locally and in many locations where these developments have been proposed, communities continue to oppose them for many good and practical reasons, and it is extremely disappointing the lack of consultation in the preparation of these projects, he said.

He said the Port Stephens project would pose a serious navigational risk for local and international shipping and boating, as well as the wind farms during storms and tempest.

The feasibility studies and the eventual project would detrimentally impact whale and dolphin (cetacean) acoustics, migration and pod behaviour, while marine bird life would suffer like they have on land-based wind farms, he said.

Dr Gillespie said there would be enormous financial cost on the multi-million dollar local commercial fishing industry, commercial freighters, blue water and the tourism economy.

“On land, the significant environmental and aesthetic impact will be felt with the connecting, high-voltage grid, which is likely to travel through the pristine Great Lakes and Myall Coast native bush, environmental and agricultural land.

“This will have a very significant cost, which electricity payers will subsidise through higher grid and electricity prices.

“The whole proposal is outrageously uneconomic and relies on subsidies via Large Scale Renewable Energy Certificates, which you pay on your rising electricity bills.”

He said new baseload replacement power was urgently required to create 28,000 kilometres of new power lines through the countryside.

The landscape would resemble an industrial park of wind turbines and solar panels.

“This trillion dollar-plus energy plan is something we simply cannot afford.”

Dr Gillespie said existing power stations should be maintained until they can be replaced by new zero-emission nuclear technology.

As coal-fired power plants are retired, they could be replaced at those sites with modern modular nuclear power plants which can be plugged into the existing grid which will avoid the economic an environmental mess the federal government will create if they continue to pursue their 100 per cent renewable agenda, Dr Gillespie said.

“I will be continuing to raise this matter in parliament and do all I can to stop it and I am encouraging everyone in the community to hold all federal and state Labor ministers and MPs, Greens and Independents to account for their failure to listen and apply simple commonsense.”
Great Lakes Advocate