Australia’s biggest solar-battery hybrid project adds more power and smaller footprint, in changes to EPBC plans

Plans for what promises to be the biggest solar-battery hybrid project in Australia have been adjusted to include a near doubling of the power capacity of the big battery component and a small reduction in the footprint of the solar panels.

Ark Energy’s Richmond Valley Solar Farm, proposed for Myrtle Creek in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, is currently seeking a green tick from the federal government, having already secured state planning approvals and support through NSW Labor’s long duration storage tender.

Ark Energy had referred plans to for assessment under the EPBC Act for 500 megawatts (MW) of solar and a 275 MW, 2,200 megawatt-hour (MWh) (eight hour) battery energy storage system (BESS), but last week got the all clear to make some small but important adjustments.

The changes, which amount to an overall reduction in the project’s development footprint, include tweaking elements of the design to account for road and intersection upgrades, transmission line location changes, security fencing, and changes to BESS and solar panel infrastructure and arrangement.

The headline change is the boost to the proposed installed power capacity of the project’s BESS, from 275 MW to 475 MW, which Ark Energy says is to to “improve interaction with the solar farm.”

The change brings the EPBC referral for the project in line with its state planning approval, which is for a solar farm of up to 435 MW (ac) and a battery up to 475 MW and 3,148 MWh.

The changes, which were last week accepted by the EPBC, mean a bigger footprint for the proposed battery – from 5 hectares to 9 hectares, thanks to the addition of another 80 inverters.

For the solar component of the project, changes to the fence line, the transmission connection point and in response to the identification of certain plant species has changed the layout of the panels, and reduced the overall footprint by 14 hectares.

Ark Energy is the Australian renewable and storage developer offshoot of Korean Zinc and has been active building renewable sources for its smelter in north Queensland, and other projects around the country.

Richmond Valley is its second state-approved project in NSW and it is waiting for final approvals for the 335 MW first stage of the Bowmans Creek wind farm, to be located within the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone. That project won state planning approval last year from the Independent Planning Commission.

Ark Energy has already appointed Spanish company Elecnor as early works contractor to the Richmond Valley solar battery hybrid project, with work to begin early next year. The project will create 327 jobs during construction and up to 15 ongoing operational roles.

The project will also support the community with a proposed $11 million Voluntary Planning Agreement with Richmond Valley Council, which could help fund community projects such as halls, sporting facilities, libraries, parks and playgrounds.

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