The Daylesford Downwind Dynamoa
bout hepburn windHepburn Wind is the owner and operator of Australia’s first community owned wind farm, at Leonards Hill, just south of Daylesford Victoria.
The 4.1 MW wind farm comprises
two turbines and is located at Leonards Hill, in Central Victoria, just south of Daylesford and approximately 100 km north-west of Melbourne.
Hepburn Wind is the trading name of Hepburn Community Wind Park Co-operative Ltd, a co-operative registered in Victoria, Australia.
Hepburn Wind was established in 2007 by the Hepburn Renewable Energy Association, now known as SHARE.
the co-operative
Hepburn Community Wind Park Co-operative Ltd (Hepburn Wind) is a trading co-operative registered in Victoria (Reg. No: G0003442Y, ABN: 87 572 206 200) with over 1900 members, the majority of whom are local to the project. The co-operative structure, with each member having one vote, ensures democratic control however members will receive dividends proportional to their investment. The co‑operative is managed by a board of nine volunteer directors who are elected at Annual General Meetings of the co‑operative. Operational support is provided by a local executive team.
Shares in Hepburn Wind may only be purchased by co-operative members. If you are interested in joining the co-operative and purchasing shares, please register your interest. You will then be able to download our disclosure information and application form.
el
ectricity salesRed Energy, a retailer owned by Snowy Hydro, purchases the total output of the wind farm. Red Energy and Hepburn Wind have developed Community Saver a retail product available to all residents of Victoria. This provides a 100% renewable electricity product at competitive pricing. In addition, Red Energy contributes up to $50 a year to the Hepburn Wind Community Fund for each customer on the Community Saver plan who pays their bill on time.
hepburn wind community fundA proportion of the revenue from the sale of electricity, plus the contribution from Red Energy goes to community projects through the Hepburn Wind Community Fund. Per turbine, the fund is the most generous community fund of any wind farm in Australia and is projected to provide well over $1m to local sustainability projects over the next 25 years.
funding
The project’s financing comprises:
capital from members and applicants — $9,640,225
Sustainability Victoria RESF grant — $975,000
Regional Development Victoria RIDF grant — $750,000
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank loan (10 years, not fully drawn) — $3,100,000
a debt guarantee from Embark Australia — $1,000,000
Future Energy Pty Ltd underwrote a significant portion of the early stage development costs.
more informationsee our FAQs for more information
see our planning and compliance page
see our official documents page for the rules of the co-operative and financial reports
read the detailed case study at Embark
register your interest to join
contact us
http://hepburnwind.com.au/about/An inside glance into the potent powerhouse on long legs:-
Why just two turbines?
The scale of the project is suited for the energy requirements and financial resources of our community. The site of the Hepburn Community Wind Farm is suitable for only two turbines. Our rules permit us to invest in more wind turbines, however any additional turbines will not be on Leonards Hill.
How are the turbines be maintained?
We have entered into a comprehensive and long-term maintenance and services contract with REpower Systems.
REpower employs service technicians that maintain turbines at several sites across Victoria. The turbines are also monitored from a 24 hour control room in Germany.
Our wind farm manager lives approximately 800 m from the turbines and oversees works on site.
What responsibility do members have for the activities of the Co-operative?
Each individual member’s risk is limited to the value of their fully paid up share capital (as well as any personal debts owing to the co-operative) upon winding up. Members are not otherwise liable for the activity of the co-operative.
We maintain a comprehensive insurance policy which specifically addresses risks of claims arising from the operation of the wind farm.
What kind of turbines are installed?
The Hepburn Community Wind Farm comprises two REpower MM82 wind turbines, each with a maximum capacity of 2.05 MW. The wind farm has been designed to output 4.1 MW when operating at full power. The wind farm has a predicted capacity factor of 34%.
The planning permit constrained the maximum height of the wind farm to 110 m from ground to blade tip. The REpower turbines sit on a 68 m tower and have a blade length of 41 m. At this height, no aircraft warning lights are required.
What is the wind like on Leonards Hill?
A wind monitoring mast was installed on the Leonards Hill site in August 2006. After 12 months of data had been collected, Garrad Hassan Pacific Pty Ltd, a recognised world leader in wind energy analysis, was engaged to perform an expert wind energy assessment for the site.
Garrad Hassan’s assessment predicts a hub-height average wind speed of 7.7 m/s with a standard error of 0.50 m/s. The wind energy analysis is available in the planning and compliance section of this website.
Garrad Hassan analysed the detailed wind data and the nominal performance of the chosen wind turbines and predicted that the average annual energy production of the wind farm will exceed 12.2 GWh in 50% of years, 10.8 GWh in 75% of years, and 9.4 GWh in 90% of years.
While the methodology applied is rigorous, the predictions are based on a number of estimates and assumptions which may lead to error (positive or negative) in the predictions. Furthermore, actual performance of any system harnessing natural forces will exhibit variability, and as such there is a significant risk that average estimates will not be met in a given year.
What is the working life of the wind farm?
The directors believe that 25 years is a reasonable estimate for the life of the turbines. Much like any machinery, maintenance costs will increase as the turbines age and at some point in the distant future the current turbines will reach the end of their economic life.
Many years from now our board of directors will consult with members and the landowner and determine the appropriate course of action, currently expected to be either:
decommissioning the turbines, returning residual funds to members
recommissioning of the wind farm (known as ‘repowering’).
What happens in extreme wind conditions?
On the rare occasions that the wind exceeds 25 m/s, the turbines automatically ‘feather’ their blades so that they catch minimal wind. A brake is applied and the turbine stops and waits for the high wind conditions to pass.
The blades, towers and foundations are designed to withstand wind speeds well in excess of anything that can reasonably be expected at Leonards Hill.
What fire risks do turbines present?
Turbine fires are very rare, but occur very occasionally, just as they do with other activities that involve electricity, heat and machinery such as cars, tractors, harvesters, trains, buildings, mines, schools and houses.
It is our understanding that over the past 15 years there have been only three turbine fires in Australia, all of which were contained. In context, there are an estimated 220 haystack fires each year in Victoria alone.
Each turbine has a lightning collection system providing a safe path for lightning from the blades, down the tower and into a copper earth grid underground. By providing an alternate and preferred route for lightning, it is likely that turbines reduce the incidence of lightning induced bush-fires in the local vicinity.
The CFA was consulted both during the planning process and for the development of our fire management plans.