Independent panel approves another big battery sent for review by long-distance haters

The New South Wales Independent Planning Commission has given approval to a big battery proposed for next to a waste-water treatment plant on the state’s border with Victoria, after it was sent for review by long-distance objectors and anti-renewables lobbyists.

Foresight Australia’s Hume North battery energy storage system (BESS) proposes to build a 75 megawatt (MW), 150 megawatt hour (MWh) facility around 400 metres from the existing Hume Hydro Power Station, which sits about 20 km upstream of Albury-Wodonga.

The relatively small project was referred to the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) in November last year after attracting 72 objections, including nine from special interests groups and 63 from people or groups located 100 km or more from the project, including interstate.

More than half of the submissions objecting to the BESS were in fact objecting to the very idea of replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy and storage.

As Renew Economy reported in November, the objectors to the Hume North BESS included Rainforest Reserve, the now defunct group that was the subject of intense scrutiny at the recent Senate inquiry into misinformation about climate and renewables.

Another objector, Carol-Ann Fletcher, has a record of opposing renewable and transmission projects and often cites articles printed in the Murdoch media as well as those published by the right-wing pro nuclear group, the Centre for Independent Studies.

Nearly all of the other submissions were from people who asked that their name be withheld. One complained of “renewabull” (sic) energy, and many were in the same vein.

There were only two submissions against the battery from within 5 kms of the project, including from a neighbouring trout farm. The local council also voiced concerns, but then agreed with the terms and amendments proposed by Foresight.

In its Statement of Reasons for Decision, published before the Easter break, the IPC says the battery will help manage fluctuations in energy supply, “thereby improving grid stability and energy security” for the region.

“In doing so the project would support the diversification of energy generation and help reduce the carbon emissions intensity of electricity consumption
across the state, consistent with the state policy framework promoting reliable, low emissions energy supply,” it says.

The IPC also sites the employment and economic benefits of the project, which is expected to generate 50 full-time jobs during the construction phase and two full-time jobs once operational, and contribute around $450,000 in funding of community projects.

The Commission also says it is satisfied that the battery will not pose a material risk to the community or the environment, subject to the imposition of conditions of consent – which were set out by the state planning department in its November assessment report.

On fire risk – a common community concern around BESS projects – the commission says it is “satisfied that the fire safety risks associated with the
Application can be managed and/or mitigated.

“In particular, the Commission accepts the Applicant’s assessment that the likelihood of a thermal-runaway event is remote and that the proposed design, monitoring systems, and emergency shutdown mechanisms provide suitable safeguards.”

On the project’s potential impact on local water supplies and soil quality – a concern raised by the local Council – the IPC determines that the “risks of potential impacts …on watercourses, existing drainage patterns, soil stability and the drinking water catchments are low and can be managed or mitigated.”

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