Sail4Sanity.au - Cool Clean Energy

Recognising that we urgently need to build new power generation to keep our society operating, but that we need it without the pollution from coal and gas fired power stations, makes offshore wind turbines a very attractive and cost effective solution. Yes there are some potential environmental impacts if not properly managed, but these are minor compared to the alternatives which create our air pollution and bring us climate change.

Despite the concerns of more development in our ocean, wind power and other renewables are a much better proposition than continued heating of the planet and rising sea levels.

I’m not a fan of the air pollution, more intense storms and fires, heavier rainfall, dying sea life and other extremes that coal, oil and gas is bringing us.

I shudder to think that the carbon we have already added to the sky has committed all our current beaches and waterfront properties to slow but sure oblivion by the time my grand kids are my age. Yet it’s true. I only hope new beaches will form for their children to enjoy and that our councils will be able to afford the inevitable costs for sea walls, bridge and road works and property buy backs when the time comes.

First hand experience tells me that there is plenty of virtually uninterrupted wind power out there over our ocean. We need that clean energy to power our society toward a better future, for our children's sake.

Some people are concerned by the visual aspect, and yes they will be visible on a clear day. This is what they would look like from Wollongong Lighthouse - if they were 10 km out to sea. Zoom in to see more detail. Now the plans have changed so that they would be no closer than 20km away. Not as efficient, but virtually invisible from the coast except on the clearest of days.

People across the illawarra were invited to have their say regarding the proposed offshore wind development out to sea from Wollongong. It inspired a good deal of controversy.

Local environmental groups got together to discuss whether they would support or reject the idea.

The consensus of all the environmental groups I am aware of, including a wide range of experienced people with long term experience and comittment to protecting our planet, was that the off-shore wind farms are to be encouraged.

We have to power our society with something. Offshore turbines in this area make sense economically and environmentally.

Of course we need to ensure minimal marine impacts and maximum local, recyclable materials are used in their manufacture.

And offshore wind turbines make sense especially for the Illawarra:

They would be close enough to our local industry that we can profit both from the manufacturing and maintenance of turbines and from the cheap electricity they can provide.
Being more than 10km away from the shoreline means they will not impact tourist activities or our amenity from the ocean
Some people may not like the look of the tall white towers, but lets face it, they are asthetically preferable to power stations, or to the lines of ships we regularly see along our shore.
Each of them will be more than a kilometer apart. Properly installed they will have minimal affect on the marine environment. Their anchors will be permanent and each is likely become a haven for breeding fish. Far preferable to ships which drag scars across the ocean bed in a new location each time they ancor.
The migration path for whales is predominently within 5 km of the coastline. The wind turbines are planned for 10-35 km off shore, much further out than most whales, but even if whales do pass them, they have eyes and can readily avoid them. They dont seem to have any difficulty avoiding ships which by the way are far more life threatening to them.
Properly operating wind turbines do not create emissions or pollution in the way that other energy generators do. Sure there have been cases of turbines catching fire due to mechanical failure, but these are rare and the pollution they may create is still miniscule compared to coal or gas fired power stations they replace.
Sometimes birds do fly into wind turbine blades, yes, but far less frequently than they fly into the windows we have everywhere. Far less will die from wind farms than are already dying from the effects of air pollution and climate change.
Off shore wind turbines are proven to be one of the cheapest sources for electricity, being where the wind is stronger and more consistent.
This project promises to be a good source of manufacturing, construction and maintenance jobs for the Illawarra as well as the best solution to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions.

Local engineer Rowan Huxtable has compiled some important facts about or need for off shore wind farms:

In 2021, Australia generated 266TWH of electricity. 1

71% - or 188TWH - of that was from fossil fuel. (51% - or 136TWH - from coal). 1

By 2050 we need to replace all of that fossil fuel generation to be at net zero emissions.

By 2043, all our coal fired power stations are expected to be closed. 5And the private sector will not build any new ones.

Most countries plan to phase out new internal combustion (ICE) engine vehicle sales by 2040. 6 Car manufacturers will have almost ceased manufacturing EVs. So, by 2050, the great majority of Australia’s vehicle fleet will be electrified in spite of the Australian government’s lacklustre EV policy. AEMO (the Australian Energy Market Operator) estimates that by 2050 we will need to generate between 82 and 140TWH per annum of extra electricity to convert our industrial and domestic gas use to electricity, and to provide power for electrified vehicles. 2 About 2/3 of this is for transport.3 Converting our vehicle fleet to EVs means that we will save

AEMO estimates we can save 55 – 85TWH electricity per annum by improving energy efficiency. 4

So how quickly do we need to build new power stations?

Adding this all up, by 2050 we need to build annual power generation of:

188TWH to replace existing fossil fuel power stations

+82 to140TWH for electrification

-55 to 85TWH pa energy savings

=185 to 273TWH pa of new renewable power capability

Averaging this over 26 years from now to 2050, that’s 7 – 10TWH per year EVERY YEAR

That’s the same order of magnitude as adding a large (2-3GW) renewable project operating at 30-40% capacity factor9 EVERY YEAR

BUT WAIT THERE’S MUCH MORE NEEDED AND MUCH MORE OPPORTUNITY

The WORLD cannot achieve net zero emissions by 2050 unless they have access to substantial quantities of Australian Hydrogen gas. And, if the world is close to net zero by 2050, nobody will be using much Australian coal.

To replace our current fossil fuel exports with Green Hydrogen, Net Zero Australia modelling indicates that , to replace our current fossil fuel exports by Green Hydrogen, we would need to increase NEM capacity by a factor of 40.13 That’s adding more than one complete new NEM grid EVERY YEAR.

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