COUNCIL DECISION: Next step for proposed solar farm
A material change of use application was lodged with the Bundaberg Regional Council last year.
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A new solar farm is one step closer to becoming a reality with a recent application approval from the Bundaberg Regional Council.
Earlier last week, a material change of use application for a renewable energy facility and caretakers accommodation project on Lambs and Buxton Rd was given a green light.
The applicant for the Isis River solar farm proposal is Venn Artibir Group Pty Ltd.
As stated in the application documents, the proposed solar farm would have photovoltaic (PV) panels placed on single access trackers, associated electrical equipment (including transformers, inverters, and sub-station) and future battery storage.
The development is pegged for the southern and western areas of the site, while the entire northern and eastern areas are dedicated to bushland.
"The proposed development will provide a new on-site substation and will connect to a new 132kV transmission line that will traverse the site as so to connect with the existing Ergon Energy substation, located on the southern side of Buxton Road," the proposal reads.
"This will enable energy produced by the proposed development to fed into the grid.
"The energy output is expected to power approximately 24,000 Australian households."
There are also plans to keep the existing dwelling at the Buxton Rd lot, and repurpose it as caretaker's accommodation, to enable on-site maintenance and management of the solar farm.
About 250 people could be employed during the construction period of this proposed farm.
The developer may also install battery storage at the proposed farm down the track.
"At this stage, the battery will be a water cooled cube-type unit solution that is likely to be installed on a small raised mound or platform," the proposal reads.
"As the details of the battery storage are yet to be finalised, we would accept a condition requiring details of the battery to be provided to [the] council prior to its installation."
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