New solar battery project seeking green tick says single threatened species is being eaten by cows

Renewable and storage developer Ace Power has put forward a new solar-battery project at Narrabri for federal environmental approval, and says that the single threatened species in the region is currently being eaten by cattle. 

The developer has just sent the 100 megawatt (MWac) solar project and 100 MW, 400 megawatt hour (MWh) battery into the EPBC queue to find out if it needs to be reviewed by the federal government. 

But based on the findings it unveiled in the referral, that may not be likely. 

“A total effort of two people, over two days, across 16 hours traversed 100 m threatened flora transects across the Project Area in October 2024,” the referral says.

“Winged peppercress (Lepidium monoplocoides), listed as Endangered under the EPBC Act, was the only threatened flora species present within the project area.”

On the 312 hectare site, the winged peppercress was found in areas currently being used as grazing land for sheep and cattle, it says.

“In the short term a minor reduction of overall habitat will occur however in the medium-term available habitat at the site may improve due to improved land management practices (i.e. weed control and reduction in cattle grazing).”

The project is set to be another DC-coupled solar battery and is proposed for the paddock next to Engie’s approved 120 MW Silverleaf solar project and battery. 

The battery appears to have been shrunk since Ace Power first lodged its development application in June last year for an eight-hour system, with the EPBC now referring to a four hour storage unit. 

The project will cut into TransGrid’s 132kV transmission line, which runs through the site, and Ace Power originally said it would install approximately 210,000 single axis tracking PV modules at a capital investment of $350-$400 million.

Ace Power, which itself has just been acquired, is not the only developer of this project. 

Narrabri is being co-developed by a gas company with shares in Australia’s biggest offshore gas fields, Gorgon, Ichthys and Sunrise, after Osaka Gas Energy Australia signed on with a joint development deal in 2023.

The formerly German-owned Ace Power was bought by TagEnergy earlier this month. 

TagEnergy owns Australia’s biggest wind project, the 1.33 gigawatt (GW) Golden Plains in Victoria, and wanted Ace Power’s 6 GW energy and storage pipeline to ramp up its presence in the country.

TagEnergy says the acquisition takes its total staff to more than 60 and its total portfolio to more than 10 GW.

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