$3.5m solar farm vision for McLaren Vale wine region
Plans for a $3.5 million solar farm at McLaren Vale have been lodged with the state’s planning authority.
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Plans for a $3.5 million solar farm at McLaren Vale have been lodged with the state’s planning authority.
LMS Energy — in partnership with Joule Energy — wants to build a “renewable energy hub” at the Southern Region Waste Resource Authority on Bakewell Rd.
It would use 8300 solar panels and landfill gas (methane) to generate about 40,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable electricity each year — enough to power more than 6900 homes.
According to LMS Energy’s proposal, the hub would be one of the first in Australia to channel thermal energy from solar panels and methane gas from decomposed rubbish.
It could generate about 40,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of renewable electricity each year, all fed into the electricity grid.
This is enough to power more than 6900 homes and 18,000 electricity users in the local region.
The output would be a significant increase on the Southern Waste Resource Authority’s current operation, which generates about 18,000MWh each year through the extraction of landfill gas.
The proposal says “landfill gas is a potent greenhouse gas which is 25 times more harmful to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide”. It claims that, through generating power, the new energy hub would stop nearly 218,000 tonnes of carbon from being emitted each year and save approximately 88 million litres of water compared to a traditional coal-fired power station.
LMS Energy and Joule Energy — both South Australian companies — built a similar renewable energy facility at a landfill site in Uleybury.
The Southern Region Waste Resource Authority — a subsidiary established by Onkaparinga, Marion and Holdfast Bay councils — has been extracting landfill gas since 1996.
Public consultation on the proposal is open until November 30.
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