Giving Back To The Community: Tilbuster Solar Farm

Developers of a proposed large-scale solar development in New South Wales’ Armidale region will be giving back to the local community in a big way should the project go ahead.

Tilbuster Solar Farm is to be located approximately 6km north-west of the Tilbuster township and approximately 17 kilometres from Armidale. The clean power station will boast more than 400,000 solar panels and a total capacity of 150 MW (AC). It will also feature a battery storage element installed during the project’s operational phase with a capacity of 40 MWh or less, and housed in approximately 20 containers.  A 330kV transmission line running through the site will be used to connect the solar farm to the national electricity grid.

Tilbuster Solar Farm is expected to generate enough clean, renewable energy to service the equivalent needs of around 48,000 average NSW homes while avoiding 250,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The proposed site is currently utilised for agricultural purposes. Managed sheep grazing is expected to be undertaken during the facility’s operation to keep vegetation in check where required. This practice is becoming more common in solar farm projects and is sometimes referred to as agrivoltaics or agrophotovoltaics.

The project is in the final stages of New South Wales’ State Significant Development assessment process, but developer Enerparc is hopeful of starting construction in Q3 of 2023, assuming the outcome of that process is positive. Construction will take around 12 months and the facility is expected to operate for around 30 years; after which it would either be decommissioned or recommissioned.

Clean Energy Benefits And Beyond

The construction of the facility is expected to generate direct local employment for activities such as civil works, fencing and landscaping; along with indirect employment resulting from accommodation, catering and other goods and services required.

This is the usual scenario for solar farm projects – a sugar-hit of jobs for however long construction lasts, then a comparative handful of positions for ongoing maintenance and operations.

But accompanying most major solar projects are community benefits packages – and Armidale Regional Council appears pleased with what it has hammered out so far with Enerparc.

Last week, Council endorsed the general terms of the project’s planning agreement, which will deliver around $1.5 million for community projects and initiatives in the Armidale region.

“The Tilbuster agreement will be used to establish a community benefit fund governed by a Committee made up of community and council representatives,” said Council’s Chief Officer Sustainable Development Daniel Boyce. “The details of that process are yet to be determined but represent a wonderful opportunity to fund worthwhile community projects that improve the social and economic vitality, and sustainability of our region.”

With around 750MW of large-scale renewables in the pipeline for the Armidale LGA, the community can look forward to more benefits from other arrangements.

Armidale is in the midst of one of the NSW Government’s proposed Renewable Energy Zones (REZs). The State Government says the New England Renewable Energy Zone will deliver up to 8 gigawatts of new network capacity, up to $10.7 billion in investment and around 830 operational jobs; as well as 1,250 construction jobs each year.