Even more big solar may be on its way in New South Wales – Overland Sun Farming has submitted proposals for major solar farms near the towns of Gunnedah and Wee Waa.
Wee Waa Sun Farm
Wee Waa is situated on the north-western slopes of the New England region and is part of Narrabri Shire.
The total installed capacity of the proposed Wee Waa Sun Farm, located approximately 3.5 kilometres south-east of the town, would be up to 55 MW and consist of approximately 165,000 solar panels. The Overland proposal also mentions the potential for battery storage, the capacity of which will be determined during the detailed design stage.
The project will connect to either the Essential Energy 66kV electricity distribution network via Essential’s Wee Waa substation or the Narrabri to Wee Waa 66kV transmission line.
There’s no word yet as to how the residents of Wee Waa feel about the project, but many would already be quite familiar with solar power. Clean Energy Regulator data shows a total of 455 solar power systems (< 100kW capacity) in the 2388 postcode, with a collective capacity of 1.63MW. That’s a great effort for an area with a population of around 2,700.
Orange Grove Sun Farm
Situated approximately 12 kilometres from Gunnedah in north-eastern New South Wales, Orange Grove Sun Farm would be up to 110MW and consist of approximately 330,000 solar modules.
As with Wee Waa, the Orange Grove facility may also incorporate battery storage, but details of capacity haven’t been fleshed out as yet.
The project would connect to the mains grid via TransGrid’s 132kV electricity distribution network originating at TransGrid’s Gunnedah Substation.
In the Gunnedah region (postcode 2380, population ~10,400), 750 small-scale solar panel systems have been installed, representing 3.25MW of capacity.
In both cases, approvals will need to come from NSW’s Department of Planning rather than the respective councils as the projects are considered State Significant Developments (SSDs). From the commencement of site works, the projects would take around nine months to construct. Each would require 80 full-time equivalent workers during construction, and three during operations.
Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) have been issued for both projects. The next stage is preparation of environmental impact statements and development applications.
Overland’s Hay Sun Farm Approved
As we mentioned in December, Overland had a recent win after New South Wales’ Department of Planning and Environment approved development of the $150 million, 100MW (AC) Hay Sun Farm, a decision that was welcomed by Hay Shire Council.
Overland Sun Farming currently has four solar projects under construction – three in Victoria and one in Queensland – with a collective capacity of more than 355MW. It looks like New South Wales will be a focus for the company for a while – in addition to the three projects mentioned above, it has another two in the pipeline for the state.
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