Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth NSW 10 Jul 2013, by ALENA NICKELL General News, page 1 - 665.

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Change in the wind

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Change in the wind

By Alena Nickell THE North West has welcomed the official launch of two community renewable energy projects set to revolutionise sustainable power generation in the area. Funding for Farming the Suns new community-owned solar farm project and stage three of the New England Wind Farm Initiative were unveiled by member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson yesterday.

the w wind
Region powers up renewable energy projects
Mr Anderson announced $35,000 from the Office for Environment and Heritage, which will help Farming the Sun negotiate host sites for five community-owned solar farms throughout north eastern NSW, incorporating the New England high country regions, Liverpool Plains, Gwydir Shire, Northern Rivers and the North Coast. Each community solar farm will range in size from 100kW to several hundred kilowatts or more, with a 100kW farm producing the equivalent electricity of about 30 average homes, Mr Anderson said. Community solar farms will allow residents to invest in a large (100kW+) solar farm on a host site that uses energy during the day, seven days a week, such as local government departments, large retail or educational institutions. The host buys the solar to replace energy from the grid

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Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth NSW 10 Jul 2013, by ALENA NICKELL

Change in the wind

tail or educational

General News, page 1 - 665.88 cm Regional - circulation 5,920 (MTWTFS-)

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nge in wind
tail or educational

Northern Daily Leader, Tamworth NSW 10 Jul 2013, by ALENA NICKELL

Power to renewable projects
from page 1
at a reduced price, which still allows a return to community investors. It is anticipated the minimum one-share investment will cost between $2500 to $3000 per share. If we are to reduce our demand on fossil fuels, this is the future, Mr Anderson said of the wind and solar farm projects. Its all about communityowned renewables, allowing the community to support and control its own energy future. We have the ability to lead the way in NSW. The announcement comes after Bindaree Beef was granted $23 million in federal funding last week for the construction of a worldfirst biogas system that will slash operating costs and increase jobs at Inverells biggest employer. In yet another boost to the regions sustainability drive, forum members were also told of another state government grant of $50,000 which will go towards stage three of the New England Wind community project. New England Wind is working to establish the first community-owned wind farm in NSW. The eight to 12-turbine wind farm could potentially produce an astounding amount of energy equivalent to half the electricity needs of the Tamworth region. PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT: Andrew Blakester of Starfish Enterprises and Rob Taber of New England Solar sign a memorandum of understanding at yesterdays renewable energy launch.
090713GOA06

Theres only two other community-based wind farms in Australia, so if we make this work it will be a fantastic outcome for the region, New England Wind technical director Chris Blanksby said. The first stage of the project consisted of establishing whether there was community support for a wind farm, while the second phase investigated possible sites for the farm, the engineer said. Invitations were put out for people to express interest in hosting a wind farm on their land and we got a huge response a fantastic level of interest, Dr Blanksby said. He said the most recent funds would help progress the project further into phase three, which would consist of technical work at potential sites and improving community involvement and understanding of what were doing. Project director Adam Blakester of rural sustainability expert Starfish Enterprises

said solar and wind energy was available throughout the New England region for businesses and community members to harness. Instead of sending money out of the region to pay a utility for power, communityowned renewable energy ensures the communitys money stays within the community, Mr Blakester said. In effect, money spent on community-owned renewable energy becomes another renewable source. Meanwhile, Gwydir Shire Council announced it was a prospective solar farming host at yesterdays new energy launch. Mayor of the fiercely independent council, John Coulton, said he had considered utilising solar panels since he began his term of council and jumped at the chance to get involved when he heard about the Farming the Sun initiative. When this project came up we were pretty keen on it, Cr Coulton said.

General News, page 1 - 665.88 cm Regional - circulation 5,920 (MTWTFS-)

Copyright Agency Ltd (CAL) licensed copy

ID 202667487

PAGE 3 of 3

Power to renewable projects

from page 1
at a reduced price, which still allows a return to community investors. It is anticipated the minimum one-share investment will cost between $2500 to $3000 per share. If we are to reduce our demand on fossil fuels, this is the future, Mr Anderson said of the wind and solar farm projects. Its all about communityowned renewables, allowing the community to support and control its own energy future. We have the ability to lead the way in NSW. The announcement comes after Bindaree Beef was granted $23 million in federal funding last week for the construction of a worldfirst biogas system that will slash operating costs and increase jobs at Inverells biggest employer. In yet another boost to the regions sustainability drive, forum members were also told of another state government grant of $50,000 which will go towards stage three of the New England Wind community project. New England Wind is working to establish the first community-owned wind farm in NSW. The eight to 12-turbine wind farm could potentially produce an astounding amount of energy equivalent to half the electricity needs of the Tamworth region. PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT: Andrew Blakester of Starfish Enterprises and Rob Taber of New England Solar sign a memorandum of understanding at yesterdays renewable energy launch.
090713GOA06

Theres only two other community-based wind farms in Australia, so if we make this work it will be a fantastic outcome for the region, New England Wind technical director Chris Blanksby said. The first stage of the project consisted of establishing whether there was community support for a wind farm, while the second phase investigated possible sites for the farm, the engineer said. Invitations were put out for people to express interest in hosting a wind farm on their land and we got a huge response a fantastic level of interest, Dr Blanksby said. He said the most recent funds would help progress the project further into phase three, which would consist of technical work at potential sites and improving community involvement and understanding of what were doing. Project director Adam Blakester of rural sustainability expert Starfish Enterprises

said solar and wind energy was available throughout the New England region for businesses and community members to harness. Instead of sending money out of the region to pay a utility for power, communityowned renewable energy ensures the communitys money stays within the community, Mr Blakester said. In effect, money spent on community-owned renewable energy becomes another renewable source. Meanwhile, Gwydir Shire Council announced it was a prospective solar farming host at yesterdays new energy launch. Mayor of the fiercely independent council, John Coulton, said he had considered utilising solar panels since he began his term of council and jumped at the chance to get involved when he heard about the Farming the Sun initiative. When this project came up we were pretty keen on it, Cr Coulton said.