$3 billion Neoen Australia solar and wind project planned near Burra to power a million homes
A battery six times bigger than the record-setting one at Jamestown will be at the heart of a multibillion-dollar Mid North energy project powerful enough to run one million homes.
SA Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from SA Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Lincoln Gap Wind Farm’s $500m Stage 3 creates jobs windfall
- The Advertiser +Rewards – giveaways, offers and competitions
Plans have been released for a $3 billion wind and solar farm development in the state’s Mid North, which proponents Neoen say will provide enough electricity to power a million homes.
It will feature 163 turbines, 3000ha of solar panels and a huge lithium-ion battery with a capacity six times the size of the world’s biggest battery at Hornsdale, near Jamestown.
The State Commission Assessment Panel has begun consultation on the project by French-founded renewables developer Neoen, for cropping and grazing land south of Burra and north of Robertstown.
Neoen Australia head of development Garth Heron said “Goyder South” would be built over three stages, with work to start on the first soon after approval was granted, and the next two stages due once the SA-NSW interconnector was built.
He said the overall project would create more than 100 permanent jobs and more than 1000 direct and indirect roles during construction, which would take 5-6 years.
“In terms of South Australia and the recovery from COVID, it’s really important to have some of these projects starting as soon as possible so you do have the economic growth and stimulus happening in the state,” Mr Heron said.
The company wants to build up to 163 turbines reaching 240m tall, generating 1200MW, a solar farm across two sites with capacity of up to 600MW and a battery storing up to 900MW of power.
The project would span the Worlds End Valley, with turbines on its western and eastern ridge lines, and extending south towards Robertstown.
A planned connection point near Robertstown means the battery will be ideally positioned to stabilise the grid by injecting emergency power and current into the system if there is a fault impacting the interconnector.
“It’s a combination of the best wind and solar in the country with enough space to build a really good-size project,” Mr Heron said.
“The beauty of this project is the wind, solar and battery storage are designed to provide … around-the-clock power. We have a night-time wind that calms down during the day just as the peak of the solar production is on.”
Infrastructure would be 5.3km from the centre of Burra and turbines at least 2km from neighbouring homes.
In its submission to the planning panel, the company said it would contribute up to $600,000 a year to a community benefits scheme during the project’s lifespan – expected to be 25-30 years.
Neighbours within 6km will also receive payments under a separate scheme, in a bid to increase the project’s social licence and create more renewable energy supporters.
Neoen plans to buy private land for conservation, creating a 955ha ‘Worlds End Gorge Reserve’ alongside its project, opening the area up for public uses such as hiking, swimming and walk-in camping.
MORE NEWS
100 SA schools in $1.3 billion upgrade program
Neoen to build tallest wind farm, solar and big battery at Crystal Brook
Asteroid drilling world-first to touchdown in SA outback
Works to rehabilitate and preserve the land would offset the vegetation clearance for the infrastructure. It will also negotiate with the Environment Department over re-routing the Heysen Trail, which passes through the area.
The development would span about 30,000ha, but have a footprint of about 10 per cent of that area.
Plans say the project would save 2.1 million tonnes of CO2 each year – the equivalent of taking 872,000 cars of the road or planting 39 million trees.
Neoen is also planning another renewables project, ‘Goyder North’, which would be north of Burra, but that project is yet to be finalised.
Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said Goyder South would be South Australia’s first gigawatt scale renewable energy project, delivering cheaper, cleaner energy and creating hundreds of new jobs.
michelle.etheridge@news.com.au
