A Western Australian wind farm has reached the end of its nominal design life, and some locals want to make sure it doesn’t take the air from their renewable sails.

The aging Ten Mile Lagoon wind farm near Esperance in WA has been the source of much debate, centred mostly on what can be done now that the farm is approaching its use-by date.

The nine-turbine 225 kilowatt project saves thousands of tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.

An engineering survey by the operator of the farm said the turbines would have three to five years of operation left in them, that test was done in 2012.

WA Minister for Energy Mike Nahan has previously indicated that Synergy, the company behind the Ten Mile site, has no plans to replace the farm when it runs out of puff.

“The site which the Ten Mile Lagoon wind farm is located has an excellent wind resource and a new project on the site would be considered... if it was able to meet social, environmental, technical and commercial requirements,” he said at the time.

Member for Eyre Dr Graham Jacobs wants that call renewed.

“From a local perspective, we can't ignore that we need to look at renewable energy sources,” he said.

“I would be opposed to the notion that we had our 20 year experiment with wind power generation in Esperance and that there is no place for it in the future.

“Renewable energy often stacks up price-wise at a regional and rural level... given the conditions in Esperance, wind power is a sensible option,” Dr Jacobs said.

“I would hope that we could upgrade the Ten Mile Lagoon wind farm and employ 21st century technology to produce greater efficiency.”

Local Environmental Action Forum (LEAF) secretary Ron Taylor says installing new turbines at the Ten Mile site will give them the efficiency boosts developed in the last ten years.

“Esperance was one of the first sites in the state to introduce wind turbines,” Mr Taylor said.

“At this stage I would like to see a mix of around 20 per cent of our power coming from solar and wind farms... Esperance is an excellent site for wind farms. Anyone who has lived here or visited for any length of time will attest to that.”

“As technology improves this could become even greater,” he said.