Half of Australia's windfarm pipeline is in slowest-building state

Qld slowest to build wind power but home to half of nation's proposed projects In short: Queensland has 543 operational wind turbines, which could increase to 1,383 thanks to 17 more projects in the pipeline. However, community opposition, rising construction costs and government policy changes are making it the slowest state in which to build wind projects. What's next? Experts and industry warn Queensland risks losing billions in private investment without greater certainty. Most Queenslanders will not see any of the state's 543 wind turbines on their daily commute, despite the towers reaching 247 metres into the air. You have to drive almost three hours out of Brisbane to rural areas to see one, and there are plenty more in the development pipeline. Queensland now accounts for half of Australia's proposed onshore wind power capacity, with $5.8 billion worth of projects securing necessary funding or starting construction, according to the Clean Energy Council's latest report. If all approved projects proceed, the state's installed wind capacity could become about one and a half times more than the existing coal-fired power capacity, state treasury figures show. Wind power bottleneck But turning that potential investment into turbines is slow going. Queensland has the longest average onshore wind project completion time of any state, at about three years. Experts have put this down to multiple factors including community opposition and planning uncertainty. One of those opposed to the rollout of wind farms near residential dwellings is cattle farmer Glen Franz, who has about 13 turbines within 3 kilometres of his property north of Dalby. The turbines that neighbour his property are among Wambo Wind Farm's 83 turbines. Mr Franz recently hosted a meeting with concerned residents and federal politicians to discuss the impacts of wind projects. "Obviously, there's a place for it, but it's not in these built-up areas, it's too closely settled," he said. "We've always advocated that we're not anti-renewable." Former Origin Energy executive Tony Wood, now a Grattan Institute energy and climate change senior fellow, said community angst, policy uncertainty, slow transmission build-out and higher construction costs were among many factors contributing to slower wind farm development. "We've got a very large pipeline, but blocked pipelines don't flow very well,"he said. Mr Wood said the state's potential for wind power had become clearer over the past decade, but investment needed to align with government policy for projects to be realised and power to be fed into the grid. Projects cancelled The Crisafulli government recently changed planning rules to require wind and solar developers to do social impact assessments and secure community benefit agreements, like other fossil fuel projects do, and cancelled two major wind projects. The Moonlight Range and Forest Wind projects had the potential to power about 760,000 homes combined, but the government intervened with call-in powers. Mr Wood said the state government had also abandoned renewable energy targets without clearly explaining its position on renewables, which had frustrated investors seeking a clearer sense of direction. "Unless that's fixed, the pipeline may remain a somewhat plugged pipeline," he said. "If I'm a teenager in Queensland, I should be able to understand, well, where is the government taking me and industry taking me and my fellow travellers into that future? "And I guess at the moment, we're a bit unclear about that." In response to questions about the slow construction of wind farms, Queensland Treasurer and Energy Minister David Janetzki said the Crisafulli government had an "open for business approach" and encouraged private sector investment in new generation. "Our Energy Roadmap is about economics and engineering over ideology, coal for longer, more gas and private sector investment into renewables," he said in a statement. Where are the wind farms? Queensland has 10 operating wind farms with a total of more than 500 turbines, and an additional 17 projects that have been approved or are under construction. Most of the operational wind farms are in the Darling Downs and Western Downs regions west of Brisbane, which are home to five. The largest of those is the 923MW MacIntyre Wind Farm near Warwick, which can produce enough electricity to power about 620,000 homes. Meanwhile, central Queensland has the largest pipeline of approved projects, with seven planned. That is followed by North Queensland with four approved projects, three in the Wide Bay-Burnett regions, two in the Mackay-Isaac-Whitsunday region and one in the Darling Downs. Of all these projects, the state's biggest would be the recently approved Bungaban Wind Farm, in the Western Downs, and the Wongalee Wind Energy Project, west of Townsville. Each could generate up to 1,400MW. Once complete, this could bring the total number of turbines in Queensland to 1,383. By comparison, the United Kingdom, where the energy grid is more reliant on wind power, is home to 7,353 onshore wind turbines in an area seven times smaller than Queensland. Queensland Renewable Energy Council chief executive Katie-Anne Mulder said Queensland had some of Australia's best wind resources, but developers needed to consult communities and "work hard to earn their trust". "There's been some not-great examples of development, and we understand that," she said. On the other hand, Ms Mulder said the industry wanted more certainty, following a survey that found 82 per cent of respondents believed the government's Energy Roadmap needed improvement to provide greater certainty. "Queensland really risks missing out on those billions of dollars in private investment," she said. Power bill balance Mr Wood said increased renewable power generation had put downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices. But he said new transmission lines and energy storage, alongside the eventual closure of coal-fired power stations, could push prices back up. "Even though the cost of producing electricity from wind and solar is cheaper than coal, by the time you get it to where we need it, it's not much cheaper," he said. Mr Wood said building renewable energy fast enough to address climate change while maintaining reliable and affordable power was a challenge. "If we go too fast, we'll almost certainly muck it up and that's not good," he said. "But if we go too slow, climate change will eventually take over."