GLEN Innes continues to lead the country as a renewable energy hub after Goldwind Australia was granted development consent by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment for the White Rock Solar Farm.
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Early this year White Rock Solar Farm was shortlisted in the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) Large-Scale Solar Competitive grant program.
If successful in the ARENA process, the project could commence construction from early 2017 and be operational by end of 2017.
White Rock Solar Farm is planned to be a 20 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant located adjacent to the northern end of White Rock Wind Farm, 18 kilometres west of Glen Innes.
Managing Director at Goldwind Australia John Titchen said the solar farm will be an excellent complement to White Rock Wind Farm which commenced construction in May this year.
“We welcome this development consent being granted following the thorough and efficient NSW Department of Planning and Environment process,” he said.
“Goldwind recognises and welcomes the strong community support for solar and wind energy development in the Northern Tablelands - we see great potential in this region.”
White Rock Solar Farm is designed to benefit from sharing part of the wind farm infrastructure, including the grid connection, access tracks and some internal electrical cabling.
The opportunity to share wind farm infrastructure maximises the use of available facilities without requiring construction of additional facilities elsewhere.
Co-location of the project potentially unlocks over $5 million of savings.
Member for Northern Tablelands Adam Marshall said the electorate is leading the way in renewable energy projects.
“In the last 12 months this electorate has leapt from having no large-scale energy generation, to the construction and commissioning of facilities capable of powering tens of thousands of homes,” he said.
“That’s the miracle of renewable energy. It’s not just that we can generate power from renewable sources, like the sun and wind; it’s that we can harvest this energy in our communities, generating jobs and adding another robust source of revenue to local economies.”