Survey: 70% rural support renewable rollout near them

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Image: from Farmers for Climate Action report, A state-by-state breakdown of expected revenue to farmers and local communities from renewables.  (Supplied: Farmers for Climate Action)

Farmers for Climate Action finds most regional residents impacted by renewables are supportive

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A new survey shows strong support for renewables projects across regional communities.

In short:

New research released by Farmers for Climate Action shows strong support for renewable projects on farmland among regional communities.

A nationwide survey found 70 per cent of residents living in areas affected by renewable projects were supportive of them, based on findings from 1,000 people.

What’s next?

Supporters and opponents of renewable energy projects say genuine consultation is needed for the industry to succeed.

One thousand people living in renewable energy zones were surveyed on the strength of their support for renewable projects, with 70 per cent supporting clean energy projects on farmland in their local community.

It comes after blacklash from the farming community in response to the Victoria to NSW Interconnector West (VNI West) transmission line project in regional Victoria and other planned renewables projects.

Rebecca Huntley says the level of consultation needs to be above “gold standard”.

Speaking to the people

Rebecca Huntley, research director of consultancy 89 Degrees East, which ran the survey, said there were “enduring insights” from the survey.

“In my previous work, those results pretty much line up with the results here, which is broad support,” she said.

“But there are lots of open questions about how [renewable energy projects] can be done in a way which really benefits the community.”

Dr Huntley said the answers to the questions varied from group to group, but finding solutions was important so that the impacts on communities hosting renewable projects could be managed.

Farmers for Climate action have recently launched two reports.

A burgeoning industry

FCA has been ramping up its positive message on renewables, launching two reports on the topic in Canberra in the past fortnight, and lobbying parliamentarians about the issue.

A report by FCA and the Clean Energy Council (CEC) released last week estimated farmers would be paid about $1 billion from renewable energy projects from 2024-2030.

That figure is forecast to grow to nearly $10 billion by 2050.

The study also shows an additional $200 million in payments or electricity bill discounts to regional communities more broadly over the same time period.

A graph including years and dollar amounts for a couple of the Australian states.

A state-by-state breakdown of expected revenue to farmers and local communities from renewables.  (Supplied: Farmers for Climate Action)

Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland were all expecting farmers in their states to receive payments of roughly between $220 million–370 million over the 2024-2030 period.

In the same period, Tasmanian farmers were forecast to receive almost $50 million and South Australians between $100 million—132 million.

Suzanne Findlay Tickner hosts wind turbines on her grain property north of Horsham, in North West Victoria, as part of Murra Warra Wind Farm.

She said having payments from renewables energy infrastructure gave her family reliable income, something that was not guaranteed in farming.

“It gives us a second income and a reliable income for our cropping enterprise,” she said.

“We’ve seen [the impact of] climate change over the last 25 years of farming — we have more unpredictable weather events at different times of the year.”

The FCA-CEC report estimated payments to wind farms would fall within a range of $5,500–6,500 per megawatt (MW) and for solar between $1,500-2,500 per MW.

The report sets out different metrics for measuring revenue from renewable projects.

In New South Wales, Luke Osborne has 27 turbines on his Bungendore property.

He also runs a consultancy connecting renewable energy companies with regional communities.

Mr Osborne said payments from the wind turbines had helped expand and droughtproof his business.

“We’ve been able to develop parts of the property which were very run down and not very productive, and have now turned into very productive pastures,” he said.

Windfarm payments are calculated per megawatt.

The FCA-CEC report outlines the breakdown of how landholders can see money come in from wind farms. (ABC Rural: Timu King)

Mr Osborne said it was a rare opportunity for regional communities to benefit from the expansion of renewable infrastructure, which he said was built to provide electricity for cities.

“This is a very rare opportunity to transfer money from our mega cities to the bush,” he said.

“Farming is a tough business to be in, it’s really risky, and to know you’ve got some dependable income is wonderful.”

Gerald Feeney says many farmers feel wronged by the level of financial support the renewable industry has been given.

Not all sunshine

Gerald Feeney, a farmer from St Arnaud in Central Victoria, was first introduced to renewable projects in his area through wind turbines, before being caught unaware by the VNI West transmission line project.

The planned towers for the interconnector had been projected to run through agricultural land in St Arnaud, which the community has contested.

“The plan was originally designed by people in office block towers in cities, not with rural people, or even the municipalities of Victoria in mind,” Mr Feeney said.

He said the previous experience with the existing VNI interconnector showed the need to extensively consult and speak with the community as the projects affected large areas.

“All renewable energy really requires is land, and it requires a lot of it, and the governments have picked out agricultural areas for a few reasons — it has been cleared, native title has been extinguished, it is the easiest path,” he said.

“We haven’t been asked, never invited, never spoken to us about this, which isn’t any way to go about building such a massive scheme.”

VicGrid chief executive Alistair Parker said genuine consultation was vital to a successful transition to renewable energy for Victoria.

“Our new approach is designed to give communities and stakeholders a real voice in the process,” he said.

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