Westwind seeks green tick for wind farm and big battery outside remote mining town

Renewables developer Westwind Energy is seeking federal environmental approval to build a 216MW wind farm and big battery on a sprawling sheep station out the ‘back of Bourke’ in New South Wales, around 20km north-west of the remote mining town of Cobar.

The Cobar Energy Park proposes to install up to 30 wind turbines and a 100MWh battery on Ngiyampaa Wangaaypuwan country and is currently open for public comment as part of its assessment under the federal government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

The wind farm would span 7,800 hectares on Maryvale Station, which Westwind says sits entirely within Crown land. According to the planning documents, the area comprises grazed agricultural land with areas of uncleared remnant vegetation, farming infrastructure and one host dwelling.

Westwind says the project layout has already undergone various design amendments in response to feedback from stakeholders, including the NSW planning department, and as a result of preliminary ecological investigations.

“This has allowed impacts on areas of higher biodiversity values to be avoided and/or minimised,” the referral notice says. “The Project layout will continue to be refined during the further project development and environmental assessment.”

Westwind has also started engaging with the local community and First Nations groups, including an information session attended by around 15 locals in September of last year.

A report in the local paper The Cobar Weekly says Westwind held the drop-in session over five hours at the Cobar Bowling & Golf Club, to answer questions about the project and get feedback from residents.

Cobar Energy Park project manager Tom Walker told the paper the conversations at the drop-in session were “overwhelmingly positive” about the project, and resulted in some “robust discussion,” including around concerns about turbine noise and electromagnetic interference.

“Community participation is vital for any major infrastructure development to be successful,” Walker told the paper.

“Cobar Energy Park encourages local community members to get involved.”

According to the project page, the wind farm once operational would pay $2,500 per turbine into a community benefit fund that would target a range of needs including health and social welfare, safety, environment, education and youth, sport and recreation, culture, arts and economic development.

Westwind has no shortage of experience in developing big wind projects – it is in the midst of developing the massive 1.3GW Golden Plains project in Victoria, one of the biggest in Australia, for now. Projects already in operation include the 130MW Mt Mercer Wind Farm, the 228MW Lal Lal Wind Farm and the 320MW Moorabool Wind Farm.

The company is also proposing a 100km transmission line through the central west of Victoria, called Wimmera Renewable Energy Solutions (WiRES), which promises to connect up to 4 GW of renewables to the grid at Bulgana and would include a 1 gigawatt (GW) battery at the Warracknabeal end of the 220kV line.

The company says the project would deliver green energy to meet more than 20% of Victoria’s total electricity demand.