Solar and battery proposal sails through EPBC and into a storm of objections
Plans to develop a 100 MW solar farm and a 100 MW, four-hour battery in New South Wales have been waved through the federal environmental approval process.
Edify Energy’s Burroway Solar Farm is not a controlled action and therefore does not require approval under the EPBC Act.
But the project could face a bumpier road through the state approvals process.
Edify’s plans – which include running sheep among the panels – will have to make it through the NSW state planning and environmental approvals process.
At this stage, the project looks destined to be referred to the NSW Independent Planning Commission, the default process for proposals that attract more than 50 public objections.
According to the NSW planning portal, the Burroway plans attracted 84 public submissions, just two of which are in support of the project.
A quick glance at the objections reveals concerns ranging from a lack of trust in renewable energy generation, to damage to the environment, animal cruelty, risk of fire and destruction of farming land.
It is not uncommon for a majority of submissions in opposition to a project to come from outside the community where it is being developed, often more than 100 km away.
It suggests that some of the negative messaging from well organised anti-renewable groups and individuals is taking root.