I am troubled by IFN's announced development pipeline.There has...

I am troubled by IFN's announced development pipeline.

There has been considerable innovation in turbines - mainly by making them much bigger to reach higher into the air where winds are stronger and more consistent. This increases both output and the proportion of time the turbine generates.

GE's 12Mw Haliade X (yes, there are other manufactures of big turbines) has a claimed capacity factor of 63% in offshore applications. This is a major improvement in efficiency and reduction in intermittency over the 3Mw turbines with ~40% capacity factors that IFN has planning approval for.

https://www.ge.com/renewableenergy/wind-energy/offshore-wind/haliade-x-offshore-turbine

One would be nuts to construct a new wind farm with the old style turbines when rivals are certain to deploy the new gear. Problem is, the new turbines are 260m tall and will certainly require fresh planning permits as these 60 story monsters will be visible for many tens of kilometres - consider how far the CBD buildings in Mel and Syd can be seen.

This may or may not be a problem for Flyers Creek or Woakwine. It certainly is for Capitol 2 - the conservatives would have a field day on visual amenity.

Ash