The New South Wales government has launched a landmark tender of crown land that seeks to attract large scale wind and solar developments in a new renewable energy hub in the south-west of the state.
The tender – currently in the form of an EOI (expression of interest) – is the first time crown land used for agriculture has been offered at such scale, and reverses the normal process of developers identifying potential land areas and then seeking crown land approval.
The NSW government has already struck a deal with the landholder, who has agreed to offer more than 3,000 hectares of land now used for grazing near the town of Balranald for use by renewable energy infrastructure.
Given the local resources, and the location of two nearby solar projects Limondale and Sunraysia, solar seems the most likely preference.
The parcel of land is located within the south-west renewable energy zone, which is one of five zones created by the state government to support large scale wind, solar and storage projects that will replace its ageing and dirty coal fleet, likely to close within a decade.
It is also located along the route of the new interconnector, Project Energy Connect, that will provide a new transmission link between South Australia and NSW. Other renewable hubs, such as Spark Renewables’ Dinawan hub that could support 2.5GW of wind and solar are also being developed.
Greg Sullivan, the head of land and asset management at Crown Lands, says the EOI follows assessment of suitable Crown land sites and an agreement with a leaseholder on the potential use of their property to support both grazing and a solar or wind energy project.
“Renewable energy investment on Crown land can support increased power supplies and security, less emissions to help protect the environment, and also more jobs and economic growth in regional areas,” Sullivan said in a statement.
“It can also diversify the use of Crown land and enhance the value it provides to the community.”
If there is sufficient response to the EOI, the government will then initiate a Request for Proposal (RFP) process that will put further details on the possible renewable infrastructure developments.
