the project
timeline
location map
energy & greenhouse
the hepburn community wind park
Photo simulation of the wind park
In early 2005 HREA (Hepburn Renewable Energy Association) approached Future Energy Pty Ltd to express their desire to establish a community owned wind farm that would help match the electricity needs of the Hepburn Shire. Since then the project has progressed through the necessary stages of development, from preliminary site analysis through the Council planning process and now has a secure planning permit. And during the course of the project, the Wind Park has gained increasing support in the Hepburn Shire community.
The Wind Park has passed all approval processes and will be located at Leonards Hill, 10km south of Daylesford, Victoria. It will consist of two 2 megawatt wind turbines giving a total capacity of 4 megawatt of power. This will produce enough electricity for 2,300 homes, almost the number of households in Daylesford and Hepburn Springs.
The driving motivation for the establishment of a wind park was climate change and the enormous benefits of renewable energy. Renewable energy is now accepted as the preferred option for the future of energy production. The wind industry in particular is responding to the increased demand for low carbon electricity and this can be seen in its spectacular growth rate of 30% p.a. Over the past twenty years, wind power has grown from its origins on the fringe of the electricity market to become a core feature of Europe’s electricity mix and increasingly America’s, and the same trend is underway in Australia.