Wind farms are essential for our clean energy future. By using renewable wind resources to generate electricity, we can reduce emissions, create jobs and benefit local communities – but getting it right all comes down to location, location, location.

By 2035, it’s expected that 80 per cent of Queensland’s power will come from renewable sources. For that to happen, it’s estimated we’ll need 12,200 megawatts (MW) of new wind generation, which works out to around 2,700 new wind turbines.

The total land area required for that many turbines is approximately 540,000 hectares. That’s a small portion (0.3 per cent) of Queensland’s total land area (185.3 million hectares), but of course, we can’t just put these turbines anywhere.

Choosing the right location for a wind farm is crucial – and there are three main factors that developers need to consider.

Wind speed

The first criterion for choosing a wind farm site is the most obvious one – the strength of the wind itself.

The purpose of a wind farm is to group together wind turbines that can harness energy from the wind and convert it into electrical energy. Generally, the higher the average wind speed in an area, the more energy can be extracted. This makes wind speed a critical factor in achieving efficient and cost-effective power generation.

To ensure turbines operate at maximum efficiency, they tend to be placed in locations with high and consistent wind speeds, and plenty of windy days each year. If you picture a wind turbine in your mind, you probably picture it on a hilltop – and that’s because these are ideal spots for capturing the fastest-moving wind.

This is also why wind turbines are typically very tall, ranging from 150 to 270 meters from the ground to the tip of the blade in a vertical position. It’s simple – taller turbines are exposed to more wind, which increases the amount of electricity they can produce.

The hub heights and rotor diameters of wind turbines have gradually increased over the years, in order to capture more wind and produce more energy. Wind turbines are getting so tall, in fact, that previously unviable sites may now be suitable for wind farms.

Regardless, wind speed is still the first thing that’s considered when choosing a wind farm site. Potential sites are selected based on historical wind data, and developers will then monitor wind speeds and collect data for at least one year in order to determine a site’s viability.

Queensland’s ample wind resources provide a perfect environment for wind farm developments, with the highest wind speeds typically found in Far North Queensland and along the Great Dividing Range.

Proximity to transmission infrastructure

Choosing the right site for a wind farm isn’t as simple as finding the windiest spot and calling it a day. There are other, less obvious factors to consider, including how close the site is to existing transmission infrastructure.

The current transmission infrastructure – i.e. the poles and wires that transport electricity from generators to consumers – was designed around the locations of traditional energy resources like coal and gas.

Even if a wind farm is located in an area with particularly strong winds, this can be a problem if this area is on the outer edges of the electricity grid, because the power the farm generates will have to travel further to reach customers.

Remote locations are often serviced by relatively weak transmission lines with low voltages, leading to transmission loss – power that doesn’t make it from the generator to the consumer.

More generators trying to transport more electricity also leads to more congestion on transmission lines. In much the same way that too many cars trying to travel on the same road at the same time leads to traffic jams, too many electrons converging on the same path leads to grid congestion, which contributes to transmission loss.

So, without access to enough high-voltage transmission, the power generated by wind farms won’t be able to efficiently reach the market for consumption. And the cost of building new infrastructure to connect remote generators to the grid can be prohibitively expensive, rendering potential projects impractical.

In Queensland, a coordinated approach is being taken to combat this problem. Many of Queensland’s new wind farms will be located within Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) , close to high-voltage transmission infrastructure and energy storage technologies.

For instance, the proposed Tarong West Wind Farm – which will generate up to 500 MW of clean energy – will be located within the Tarong REZ, near the Tarong Clean Energy Hub, which will take advantage of the existing infrastructure and strong network connections of the Tarong power stations.

Wambo Wind Farm, which will generate more than 500 MW of clean energy, is already under construction in the Western Downs REZ near Jandowae, a site chosen for its excellent wind resources and grid connectivity.

These REZs will help to accelerate clean energy projects and ensure energy generated by wind farms and other renewable sources can reach homes and businesses with minimal transmission loss.

Community and environmental impact

The population density of the surrounding community also plays an important role in wind farm site selection.

The Australian Energy Infrastructure Commissioner (AEIC) notes that proposed projects located near highly populated areas are much less likely to gain community acceptance, even if those areas offer ideal access to transmission infrastructure.

In Queensland, there’s a minimum setback distance of 1.5 kilometres between a residence or dwelling and the nearest wind turbine. There’s also a requirement that wind farms must be carefully placed and designed to avoid, minimise or mitigate any negative effects on the environment and vegetation.

They also aren’t allowed to interfere with the safety, operational integrity and efficiency of air services and aircraft operations, so it’s unlikely a wind farm would be located near an airport.

Developers also need to minimise and appropriately manage their impact on the scenic amenity and landscape values of their chosen location, and ensure they don’t disrupt transport networks and road infrastructure.

Road access is particularly important, given the sheer size of wind turbine components, and the frequency with which heavy vehicles will be travelling to and from the site during construction.

Considering all of these requirements, and the need for turbines to be located in areas with strong wind resources, wind farms are often developed on or near agricultural land.

This is usually where the most available land is, and because wind farms use only a portion of the land on which they’re located, farmers can continue their normal grazing and cropping activities around the turbines, while securing a second income stream from hosting them.

Why don’t we build wind farms offshore?

Given all of the factors that need to be considered when choosing a suitable site for a wind farm onshore, you might be wondering why Australia doesn’t have any offshore wind farms – i.e. farms built in oceans, or large bodies of water.

The advantage of going offshore is that small increases in wind speed yield large increases in energy production, and wind is generally stronger and more consistent at sea than on land. This means turbines can produce more energy, more often, helping to provide a steady supply of power to the grid even when onshore wind and solar generation isn’t available.

The disadvantage is that offshore wind farms are generally more expensive and difficult to install and maintain.

The conventional wisdom in Australia has been that offshore wind energy doesn’t have a role to play in our energy mix, because Australia is rich in sites that are well-suited to onshore generation. The shelf also falls away quickly across much of the coastline, leading to water depths that make fixed foundation turbines unfeasible.

The Offshore Wind Energy in Australia report – a collaboration between CSIRO, the University of Technology Sydney’s Institute for Sustainable Futures, Saitec Offshore and the Maritime Union of Australia – notes that the environmental effects of offshore wind farms are still largely unknown in the southern hemisphere, and their social acceptability is largely untested.

But the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) now expects offshore wind to make a significant contribution to Australia achieving net zero by 2050, and is putting a regulatory framework in place to make this possible.

Six priority areas for offshore wind have been identified around Australia. At the time of writing, four – Gippsland and the Southern Ocean region off Victoria; and Hunter and Illawarra in New South Wales – have been declared offshore wind areas, with environmental assessments and investigations now being considered to inform future development options.

What happens after a site is chosen?

Back on shore, once a potential site is identified, a developer needs to secure the right to use the land. This involves meetings, negotiations and signing contracts with landowners that include an option for wind farm development if the project moves forward.

After securing land access, the project enters the design, planning, and approvals phase, which can take several years.

In Queensland, wind farm proposals are assessed by the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) against State Code 23 to ensure they meet all of the criteria discussed above, which are designed to protect people and the environment from any adverse impacts of wind farm development.

Wind farm proposals in Queensland may also require Federal assessment under the Australian Government Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 if they’re likely to have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance.

Construction will only start if and when the required development approvals are granted, to ensure the wind farm has a positive impact on the community.

Learn more about how wind farms are developed here.