Bon dieu! Hunter Valley solar and battery project seeks approval for site surrounded by coal mines

Terrain Solar and Ratch Australia have submitted plans for a combined solar and battery project in the Hunter Valley, within a stone’s throw of some of the region’s biggest coal mines.

The Maison Dieu project seeks to combine 60 megawatts (MW) of solar and 40 MW and 80 megawatt hours of battery storage, although its dimensions – at least initially – appear to have been slimmed down from its planning application.

The project will located next to the Singleton sub-station, about 10kms north west of the town itself, and on 230 hectares of mostly grazing land that is surrounded by four existing coal mines – Ravensworth, Ashton, Rix’s Creek and Mount Thorley Warkworth.

It is located just a few kilometres south east of the now shuttered Liddell coal fired generator, and the neighbouring Bayswater coal fired power station that is due to close in the early 2030s.

“The project will support the transformation of the energy sector from a centralised system of large fossil fuel
(coal and gas) generation towards an array of smaller scale and widely dispersed wind, solar and other
renewable energy generators,” the application, now on public exhibition, says.

“Existing New South Wales coal-fired power plants (capacity of approximately 8,000 Megawatts) are planned to be retired by 2040. New, low emission energy sources are required to replace power plants and to meet future energy demands.”

The proposal comes just a week after Ratch Australia submitted a proposal for a 100 MW and 200 MWh battery at Beryl, near Gulgong in the state’s central west.

Both projects are seeking to leverage their position to secure grid access in the state’s newly created renewable energy zones.

The Maison Dieu solar project is interesting because – like the 50 MW Bridgman solar project proposed by Japanese energy giant Mitsubishi down the road – it is likely to be one of the most easterly solar projects in the state: Most solar projects are located in the central, south west and north west of the state.