Million-panel solar farm approved for Central West NSW

The federal government has announced the approval of a million-panel solar farm in NSW that it said will generate enough energy to power 229,000 homes.

The 600 MW Birriwa Solar and Battery Project is located near Dunedoo and forms part of the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone, which recently received environmental approval for a transmission line.

According to project developer ACEN Australia, Birriwa will create 400 jobs during construction (with a peak of 500) and up to 15 when operational, and cover an “area of approximately 1200 hectares of mostly cleared grazing land.”

To limit the use of short-stay and/tourist accommodation in the region, ACEN Australia said it is planning to a build temporary workers accommodation facility to service Birriwa Solar, and potentially other ACEN Australia projects in the area.

The estimated $1 billion project is to connect to the national electricity grid via the Merotherie Energy Hub, part of the new transmission network infrastructure being developed by EnergyCo to accommodate the 6 GW of new generation capacity expected to be added in the Central West Orana REZ.

The government said the project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.

“Projects need to be placed in the right areas and designed so that their environmental impacts are minimised — as is the case with this project,” said Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek. “I’ve ticked off more than 55 renewable energy projects in two years — enough to power almost seven million homes.”

Image credit: iStock.com/Eakarat Buanoi