The Australian Federal Government has approved the construction of a 600 MW/1,200 MWh solar power plant and battery storage system in New South Wales.
Australia's federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said planning has been approved for the Birriwa solar and battery project, which is being developed by the Australian subsidiary of Philippine energy company Acen Corp. in the Olana region of west-central New South Wales.
The Birriwa solar power plant is planned to cover 1,200 hectares of land about 20 kilometres south-east of Dunedoo, within the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ). The project will include a 600 MW solar power plant and a battery storage system of up to 600 MW with a storage capacity of two hours.
The project, estimated to cost A$1 billion (US$666.8 million), will be connected to the national grid via the Merotherie Energy Centre, part of the new transmission network infrastructure being developed by EnergyCo to accommodate 6 GW of new generation capacity expected to be added to the Orana REZ in the west-central region.
The Birriwa project is being built on mostly cleared land currently used for grazing and some crops, and Acen said grazing activities will continue once the project is completed.
‘Projects need to be placed in the right areas and designed to minimise their impact on the environment, as this one has,’ Plibersek said, adding that he sees the project as a win-win for the environment and households.
Plibersek said the project will support about 500 direct jobs during the construction phase and will have the capacity to generate enough renewable energy to power more than 229,000 homes, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
‘We know that projects like this are vital for increasing renewable energy capacity and putting downward pressure on prices, but they also benefit local jobs and the economy,’ she said.
Acen said it expects construction of the project to begin in late 2026 or early 2027, with power expected to be generated in 2029.
The project comes after receiving full approval from the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC). The project was referred to the IPC after attracting at least 50 submissions against its development.
Acen has more than 1GW of large-scale solar, wind, battery and pumped storage projects under construction and operating in Australia, and more than 13 GW of development capacity.
Source : https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/kcBgTupT4_R3dXuvLkSZpQ