- This is to protect the Orange-bellied parrot, which the Australian government says is critically endangered.
- This has led to the inclusion of [project approval] condition FF6, which imposes shutdown periods during the migrations totalling five months when the turbines cannot operate.
Plans for a major new wind farm in Australia have been approved on the provision its turbines go offline for five months a year to protect a parrot species. In an environmental assessment report of the Robbins Island Renewable Energy Park, Tasmania’s Environment Protection Authority said its board had “determined to approve the proposal” for the project, which could have as many as 122 wind turbines and is overseen by ACEN Australia. This is to protect the Orange-bellied parrot, which the Australian government says is critically endangered.
In a statement last week, EPA board chair Andrew Paul said the organization had concluded that “significant mitigation measures” were needed in relation to “potential impacts on the orange-bellied parrot population”. This was due to “the limited knowledge about the importance of Robbins Island in the annual northern and southern migrations” and a need to account for a National Recovery Plan for the species. This has led to the inclusion of [project approval] condition FF6, which imposes shutdown periods during the migrations totalling five months when the turbines cannot operate”.
In a Facebook post, project developers said they welcomed approval from the EPA, adding that further approvals were needed from the Circular Head Council and the Commonwealth Government’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. These were expected in early 2023, they said. In comments reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ACEN Australia Chief Operating Officer David Pollington described the switch-off condition as “completely unexpected”. Also, the ABC report quoted Pollington as saying. “These deaths may contribute to declines in the population of species also affected by other human-related impacts,” it notes. “The wind energy industry and the U.S. government are researching ways to reduce the effect of wind turbines on birds and bats.”