German developer takes solar grazing seriously with Deepwater project

German developer ib vogt is proposing a new solar-battery project for Deepwater, a town tucked just inside the northern border of the New England renewable energy zone (REZ).

The proposal is for a 120 megawatt (MW) solar farm with an attached 120 MW, four hour (480MWh) battery, connecting into a 132kV overhead power line running across the sheep and cattle grazing property.

The current timeline is for the project for construction to start by July 2026. 

The site is 4km from the town of Deepwater, a tightknit community with a very high rate of volunteering but also an unemployment rate that is double the national average. 

The Deepwater solar-battery project, tucked into the top of the New England REZ.

Ib vogt has been developing projects in Australia since 2016, with 450MW of projects progressed and sold off. 

The company’s first foray into Australian renewables was the 11MW solar power plant at Williamsdale, near Canberra, in 2016, and it’s since sold the 90MW Sebastopol solar farm to Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) in 2020 and the 60MW Yanco solar farm to Origin Energy in 2022.

Solar sheep welcome

The scoping report mentions the solar farm design will be something that “best accommodates colocation with sheep”. 

Experts such as solar grazing consultant Karin Stark says there are factors which need to be taken into account early to keep costs down later and avoid major problems. 

Senior development manager Terry Daly says those issues are front of mind for the landowner and the developer, which is almost entirely working with sheep farmers on projects across its Australian portfolio. 

He says ib vogt is working in close partnership with the landowner, a family which has owned the farm for some 100 years and who want to preserve its agricultural use while also diversifying.  

The developer has promised to put in internal fencing and troughs in each paddock within the solar farm to allow sheep to be easily moved around the panels. The landowner is also keen on security fencing around the project to protect against dingoes which come down out of the Capoompeta National Park.

“The key thing is to make sure that when [solar panels are] on full tilt, as they are at night, there’s always 500mm of clearance between the bottom of the panels and the ground,” he told Renew Economy. 

“We’re comfortable the sheep can’t get stuck with that.”

Ib Vogt will also be encountering a community who don’t have prior experience with a renewable energy developer working in the area, as the nearest solar or wind farms are at least 50km to the south west. 

The closest is the White Rock 175MW wind farm and 20MW solar farm to the west of Glen Innes. 

Slightly further south is the Squadron Energy-owned 180MW Sapphire solar farm, which has planning approval and the already operating 270MW wind farm.