AGL offering free solar system, or battery storage, to wind farm neighbours

AGL Energy says it is willing to supply a free 5kW rooftop solar system to all the properties located within 2km of the boundaries of its proposed Coopers Gap Wind Farm on the south west slopes region in Queensland.

The Coopers Gap wind farm could be the biggest in Queensland, up to some 400MW, and will be located near Dalby. According to the South Burnett Advocate, the offer to the 25 and 35 neighbouring properties was announced on Thursday afternoon at a community consultation meeting held.

The wind farm project manager Neil Cooke said the company believed that relieving wind farm neighbours of some – or all – of their future power bills might be a good way to share the benefit of the wind farm.

He said AGL will be approaching landholders over the next few months to get their reaction to the idea, the paper said. And if households already had solar, then battery storage may also be offered.

Coopers Gap will only go ahead if it is financed by the newly formed venture between AGL and other investors, Powering Australian Renewables Fund, and could begin construction in the latter half of next year.

Cooke said submissions on the project’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) had recently closed, with 24 submissions made, with two fully supportive, between 5 and 7 opposed some aspects of it.

The remainder – which came from Government departments, agencies and local Councils – generally supportive but raised issues that would need to be addressed as the company worked through them.