Shannons Flat residents are awaiting more information about a windfarm licence that has been granted to CBD Energy by one of their neighbours. The terms of the licence are not restrictive, so CBD Energy and the property owner will decide the scale of the windfarm as time goes on, approvals permitting.

Development applications for the windfarm have not yet been lodged with either the NSW Department of Planning or Cooma-Monaro Shire Council.

Executive director of CBD Energy Gerry McGowan offered some assurances to those concerned about the proposal for another windfarm on the Monaro.

“They [residents of Shannons Flat] certainly won’t be able to hear the windfarm from their residence, but they might be able to see it in the distance,” Mr McGowan said.

Mr McGowan was the founding principal of Impulse Airlines and became familiar with the Monaro region through providing air services to the area. He looks forward to helping boost the local economy.

It is believed the windfarm licence has been granted for Peter Spencer’s property at Shannons Flat, but CBD Energy has not confirmed this.

Around the world, grid infrastructure has often been a limiting factor in storing energy derived from wind power.

“In South Australia where quite a number of windfarms have gone in, what occurs is when the wind’s blowing and generating a lot of power, the grid can’t handle everything that’s thrown at it, and it often has to reject the wind power that’s generated,” Mr McGowan said.

“NSW has a pretty stable grid and we don’t have a lot of wind generation as yet, so the grid is quite conducive to renewables being built and supported. NSW is more populated and more disperse, so it has a more robust grid. It’s been built up over the years,” he said.

CBD Energy is an ASX listed company chaired by Mark Vaile, former deputy prime minister. The largest shareholder of CBD Energy is the German company Solon AG, whose motto is ‘don’t leave the planet to the stupid’. Solon AG recently won Germany’s Intersolar Award 2009 for solar roofing materials designed to deliver electrical current.