DA Lodged For Kootingal Solar Farm

A development application for a proposed small utility-scale solar farm pretty much on the doorstep of a town near Tamworth in New South Wales has been submitted to Tamworth Regional Council.

Kootingal is an agriculture-focused community with a population of approximately 2,500 situated around 17 kilometres from Tamworth. Kootingal is within the New England region, which the State Government wants to make a Renewable Energy Zone hosting 8,000MW of renewable capacity, generating around $12.7 billion in private sector investment and creating thousands of jobs.

IT Power (Development) Pty Ltd¹ is proposing a 6.4MWdc/5MWac solar farm that will feature 12,100 solar panels installed on trackers across 140 rows running north to south on the site. Two inverter stations incorporating high and moderate voltage switchgear and transformers will connect by way of underground cables to a 11kV feeder line connecting to the mains electricity grid at the Essential Energy Kootingal Zone substation.

The facility is expected to generate more than 12.9 gigawatt hours of energy and offset almost 8.5 thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions annually.

Location, Location, Location

While this is a small solar farm by utility-scale standards, something that may present a challenge to ITP in getting the project over the line is how close it is to the town. The project’s Statement of Environmental Effects document indicates the site is located approximately 1 kilometre west of Kootingal, but it appears the edge of the facility will be significantly closer to the edge of the town – under 700 metres.

Living close to thousands of solar panels is not everyone’s cup of tea as has been demonstrated many times in Australia over the years. Sometimes the concerns are well-founded, others can be, well, odd. In some instances, resistance is primarily attributable to poor communications on the part of the developer/proponent.

This project has a few attributes that may help win over the local community.

• Its comparatively small size – it will cover 11 hectares.
• Local employment opportunities during the planning and construction phases as well as (limited) maintenance and inspection jobs once operational.
• Kootingal Solar Farm’s electricity will be first directed to the town for local consumption – while this doesn’t mean electricity will be cheaper for Kootingal residents and businesses, it does mean it will be greener.
• An important point –  the land around the around the arrays *may* continue to be used for agriculture while the plant is operating. This is often a thorny issue for developers wanting to build solar farms in rural areas on sites considered to be productive agricultural land. The development site is currently utilised for grazing small numbers of agisted livestock.

The submission period for the $6.6 million project kicks off this Friday and closes on March 3. It will be interesting to see what level of local support and opposition it attracts.

Further information on the Kootingal Solar Farm project can be found here.