Drying wake effect triggers offshore wind farm drought fear

Growing scientific concern that large offshore wind farms can decrease rainfall onshore has prompted calls for the effect to be fully considered before Australian projects proceed, starting with Gippsland’s $8bn Star of the South.

A German study is the latest to warn long-distance wake effects from large offshore turbine installations can “significantly alter regional climate patterns”, including in some cases less onshore rain.

Funded by the German government, the peer-reviewed study finds expansion of North Sea offshore wind farms could reduce rainfall in parts of Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom by 10%-12%.

In Australia, such research is being tracked by Ivan Kennedy, University of Sydney Professor Emeritus in Agriculture and Environmental Chemistry, who is conducting his own study and experiments into turbine wakes.

Professor Kennedy told The Australian wake effects had potentially significant impacts for downwind areas, including for Gippsland areas closest to Star of the South’s proposed 147 turbines, 10km offshore.

“I would be very concerned that there could be significant effects in the Gippsland area, on those (Corner Inlet Ramsar-listed) wetlands and agriculture areas,” Professor Kennedy said.

“Drying out of the landscape is going to reduce productivity in terms of plant growth. In areas that are already dry and subject to bushfires, it’s going to make bushfires very hard to fight.

“The European studies are talking about wake effects up to 70km. So huge parts of the local region could be affected. I think the risk is huge and we need to do the research to find out.”

Professor Kennedy has also raised concerns about offshore wind farms proposed for the Illawarra region in NSW, suggesting they could transfer rainfall offshore, depleting catchment falls in the hinterland.

The 2.2GW Gippsland project is the nation’s furthest progressed offshore wind farm, and part of the wider offshore wind zone currently the focus of a Victorian government “wind auction”.

Locals campaigning against the project, or at least for better scrutiny of it, tried to have a recent Victorian parliamentary inquiry consider Professor Kennedy’s evidence about turbine wakes but it was ruled a federal issue.

Local campaigners are concerned the issue is not being taken seriously enough, despite the mounting scientific evidence and concern globally.

“If developments at this scale can reduce rainfall or humidity, could they leave places drier and more vulnerable to catastrophic bushfires?” said Alex O’Brien from Responsible Future Illawarra.

“Bushfires themselves release enormous amounts of carbon. We could be trying to solve one environmental problem while making another worse.”

Brad Anderson, co-convener of Gippsland’s No Offshore Turbines, 90 Mile Beach group, was equally frustrated. “This is something that needs to be looked into here and right across the country where these projects are proposed,” he said. “It’s such a major unknown.”

Star of the South, backed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, said turbine wake effects were assessed in the project’s environmental impact statement and found to be “negligible”.

“With more than 15,000 offshore wind turbines already operating worldwide, wake effects are well-studied,” Star of the South chief executive Charles Rattray said.

“For Star of the South, turbines are proposed at least 11km offshore and the coastline would rarely be exposed to wind farm wake. So there’s no credible pathway for this to affect things like rainfall, farmland or bushfire risk on land.

“The real threat is hotter, drier conditions driven by climate change – which projects like this help address. Star of the South will bring hundreds of permanent jobs, billions in economic benefit, and enough reliable electricity for 1.2 million homes. We’re focused on getting the project right and delivering lasting benefits for Gippsland.”

Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt and Energy Minister Chris Bowen declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the national Environment Protection Agency said the federal assessment of the project “must consider all relevant information, including public submissions”.

“Decisions are informed by the best available information and relevant scientific evidence,” she said.

A growing number of global studies describe atmospheric changes caused by large-scale offshore wind farms.

The Germany study, funded by that country’s government and published in Communications, Earth and Environment, says North Sea wind farms “can substantially modify sea surface heat and momentum fluxes”.

Call for regulation to control offshore wind farm ‘plastic poison’

“These alterations not only enhance cloud cover and precipitation over wind farm areas but also exert a significant influence on the North Sea ecosystem,” explains the report, lead authored by Dr Naveed Akhtar, of Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon research institute, Geesthacht.

“Large offshore wind farms can modify local and regional downwind climate by reducing wind speeds, enhancing turbulent kinetic energy and altering cloud and precipitation formation.”

Citing research, the study says turbine wakes can extend up to 50-70km and that nearshore offshore wind farms can “significantly reduce shoreline precipitation”.

Its overall conclusion is that “extensive offshore wind deployment may significantly alter regional climate patterns, highlighting the need for further … investigations”.

Professor Kennedy said his own field work in June using a drone with measuring equipment showed wake air downwind of land turbines was 1-2 degrees warmer, with less humidity.

This article first appeared in The Australian as Offshore wind farms trigger drought fears: concern about turbines’ drying wake effect.

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