Biggest winner of Bowen’s capacity tender secures state approval, subject to conditions

A huge wind farm proposed for central western New South Wales – and the biggest project among the 19 winners of the federal government’s first generation capacity auction – has been given approval for development by the state’s Independent Planning Commission (IPC).

Acen Australia is seeking to construct the 943 megawatt (MW) Valley of the Winds project in the Central Western Orana (CWO) Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), around 40 km north of Gulgong, alongside a 320 MW, two-hour big battery.

The project was sent to the IPC after attracting more than 50 public objections during the state planning assessment process. The Warrumbungle Shire council also objected to the proposal.

But the IPC said on Wednesday that it has approved the wind farm, subject to conditions, “given its location close to the approved CWO REZ transmission line, available wind resources, design to avoid major environmental constraints and access to the regional road network.” 

The three-member IPC panel, chaired by Richard Pearson, met with key stakeholders, conducted a site inspection and locality tour, and held a public meeting where they heard from 33 speakers, and received a total of 58 written submissions. 

The panel says concerns raised by community members ranged from the wind farm’s visual impacts, its effect on biodiversity, socio-economic impacts, decommissioning and rehabilitation, and the cumulative impacts of projects in the region as part of the CWO REZ.

On the visual impact issue, the IPC notes that Acen amended the development application to reduce the number of turbines from 148 to 131. The panel notes that the removal of the 17 turbines reduced the visual impact for some nearby residents who did not have neighbour agreements with the developer.

“In response to concerns raised by the department about the impact on nearby residents,” the IPC decision says, “the applicant also secured neighbour agreements with 22 additional landowners, bringing the total number of associated receivers to 59.”

It adds, “The Commission acknowledges that there will be some negative visual impacts on non-associated receivers – however these impacts are not so severe as to outweigh the strategic benefits of the project and to warrant refusal of the application.”

Ultimately, the Commission concludes that the Valley of the Winds project is “in the public interest and should be approved” subject to a range of conditions of consent, set out here.

The conditions including requiring Acen to prepare a detailed decommissioning and rehabilitation plan and an aviation management plan to ensure aerial firefighting and agricultural activities can continue unimpeded,

The company must also agree to undertake on-going community consultation via a Community Consultative Committee, and to comply with approved traffic routes.

The approval will be welcome news to Acen, whose contentious Robbins Island wind project in northern Tasmania has faced heavy local opposition and multiple legal challenges, and is still awaiting a decision from the federal government under the EPBC Act, after multiple delays.

The Valley of the Winds project is also in the EPBC queue, where it appears to have made no progress beyond the 2020 decision that full federal environmental approvals are required.

Working in the project’s favour, however, will be its selection in the first round of the federal Labor government’s Capacity Investment Scheme, announced last December, and then as one of 10 projects to be awarded “access rights” to the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) last month.

The IPC says the Valley of the Winds represents a $1.68 billion investment and is expected to generate up to 400 construction-related jobs and up to 50 operational jobs.