Public Submission Period Kicks Off For Warral Solar Farm

Image: Google Earth

Another small utility-scale solar energy project for NSW’s Tamworth Regional Council local government area recently commenced its public comment period – Warral Solar Farm.

The proposed clean power station is one of Providence Asset Group’s (PAG) solar initiatives it intends rolling out across regional Australia.

PAG’s $500 million “NSW Master Plan” announced in September last year includes 28 solar farms across the state, which will be a mix of PAG- and community-owned projects. Among the community owned projects is Manilla Solar Farm, which scored a Regional Community Energy Fund grant last year.

PAG’s $500 million investment includes $250 million in the construction of the solar farms, and another $250 million in storage solutions – including a hydrogen storage system called H2Store developed by researchers at UNSW’s School of Chemical Engineering.

But back to the Warral project, which is situated at 329 Country Road. The land involved is a 39.5 hectare parcel, with the proposed development area within it being approximately 13.4 hectares. In relation to Tamworth, it is situated approximately 7.5km south-west from Tamworth train station and 4.1km south-east of Tamworth Regional Airport

The solar farm will have a capacity of “no larger than 5MW”. It’s assumed that’s the AC rating as the Statement of Environmental Effects notes an estimated 11,928 solar panels with a nameplate rating of 540W will be used, which would make for a total of around 6.44 MWdc. The panels are to be mounted on 142 single axis trackers. The brand of solar panels to be used isn’t mentioned, but PAG’s web site notes Risen Energy as a technology partner. However, Risen doesn’t appear to produce a 540 watt panel (yet).

I couldn’t find any mention of energy storage in the document.

Warral Solar Farm would connect to Essential Energy’s network via an11 kV distribution line running adjacent to the site’s southern boundary.

The submission period for Warral Solar Farm closes on March 4 and the proposal will be referred to the Northern Regional Planning Panel given its capital investment value is more than $5 million. Further details on the proposed project can be viewed here.

Another solar energy project in the Tamworth Regional Council local government area to recently commence its public comment period is IT Power Development’s Kootingal Solar Farm, another 6.4MWdc/5MWac project  proposed for a site pretty much on the doorstep of the town of Kootingal, which is around 30 kilometres from Warral by road….