Proposal For Solar Farm In NSW Coal Country Progressing

A proposed solar farm for a site outside Mudgee in New South Wales will feature hundreds of thousands of solar panels, plus energy storage.

The proposed Wollar Solar Farm site is around 7 km south of Wollar Village, which is approximately 55 km north east of Mudgee. The site is only 8km away from Peabody’s Wilpinjong Extension Project (coal mining). Other coal activities in the general area include:

• Wilpinjong Coal mine (approx. 11km north west)
• Moolarben Coal mine (approximately 21km north west)
• Ulan Coal mine (approximately 23km north west)
• Proposed Bylong Coal Project (20km east)

Of the 878ha of land involved in the PV power station venture, 461ha would be developed for the solar farm and associated infrastructure.

While the Wollar Solar Farm website states the facility will be up to 400MW capacity, the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) puts the generation capacity at 290MW (AC). 922,432 solar panels will be used for the project. A decision is yet to be made as to whether the modules will be mounted on fixed or tracking systems.

A 30MWh lithium-ion battery based energy storage facility would also be constructed once the facility is up and running, housed in approximately fifteen 40-foot containers that will be installed in one location near the substation.

While the EIS doesn’t provide any estimated generation figures¹, it says it will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 104,926 average NSW homes and avoid 515,564 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Proponent Wollar Solar Development Pty Ltd. (WSD) says the clean power station will connect to an existing TransGrid substation approximately 900m east of the proposal area. An existing 330 kV transmission line traverses the site, so connection to the high voltage network can be established without requiring any additional transmission lines.

Construction will take about 12-18 months and it’s anticipated that up to maximum of 500 workers would be required onsite during peak construction activity. Once operational, around 5 equivalent full time staff would be employed.

At the end of Wollar Solar Farm’s service life of at least 30 years, the site will be returned to a state fit for agricultural use (its current use), or to an alternative land use.

The solar energy project is considered a State Significant Development (SSD), so approval will be decided by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment rather than local council.

The exhibition/submission period for Wollar Solar Farm is open until Tuesday, May 7, 2019, with the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)  and other related documents located here.