Swedish developer gets green light for solar and battery hybrid, drops another in federal queue

Swedish renewables developer OX2 is having a busy week in the Australian market, with a northern New South Wales solar and battery hybrid project winning federal environmental approval and another, in Queensland, joining the EPBC queue.

In NSW, a 90 megawatt solar farm and four-hour big battery proposed for construction in the Richmond Valley in northern New South Wales has cleared its final assessment hurdle, after winning a green tick from the federal government.

In a notice on the EPBC portal on Friday, the Summerville solar farm was marked as “approved without conditions,” paving the way for the project to go ahead around 60 km southwest of Lismore.

The OX2 solar farm was given state development approval in May, including for a 90 MW, 360-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system and a short underground connection to the existing 132 kV Lismore to Koolkhan overhead line.

State approval was subject to strict conditions, including a 10-metre perimeter for fire safety and others to manage or mitigate any impacts on traffic and the environment. 

OX2, which bought the Summerville project from Esco Pacific in 2023, has also agreed to provide around $3.1 million to Richmond Valley Council to deliver infrastructure and community benefits. 

A project information sheet published in May following state approval says construction of the solar farm is anticipated to start in mid 2026, and operations in late 2028. It is expected to create up to 200 jobs during construction and 6 operational roles.

The new OX2 project to enter the queue for federal environmental assessment is the 128 (AC) Sunshine State solar farm and battery, the latter of which is proposed at 128 MW and two hours duration.

According to the website, the proposed site of the Sunshine State project is located north of Rollingstone and Balgal Beach and roughly 55km northwest of Townsville, on private land.

The project will connect to QLD’s electricity network via a switching station linked to the existing 132kV transmission line. A new overhead line (approximately 100m in length) will be required on the solar farm property to connect the project to the existing network.

This project, too, was acquired from Esco Pacific, and according to the referring documents, Esco had undertaken initial stakeholder engagement, including with Townsville City Council and near neighbours, via letter, meetings and community information sessions.

“OX2 are now undertaking a review of this engagement and developing a Community and Stakeholder Engagement Management Plan,” the documents say. “This will provide an overview of how engagement will be undertaken between OX2 and the community and stakeholders moving forward.”

The documents also note that OX2 will liaise with Townsville City Council on a Community Benefits package and to determine “if this may best be formalised as a Community Benefit Agreement to be consistent with the revised legislation framework.”