Submissions from nearly 100 mostly anti-renewable campaigners have forced a new solar and battery hybrid project to be referred to the NSW Independent Planning Commission, even though they all live more than 50 kms away from the project.
Recurrent Energy is seeking to build the 360 megawatt (MW) Sundown solar farm, paired with a 150 MW, 600 megawatt hour (MWh) battery. It is located near the existing White Rock and Sapphire wind farms between Glen Innes and Inverrel, and is on sparsely populated land with no homes within 2.1 kms of the site.
The state department of planning says the project is “approvable”, and the local council and other authorities have no objections, but the fact that there are 128 objectors has forced its referral to the IPC.
Some 88 of these objectors live more than 50 kms from the site, and 7 of these are interstate, while another 23 live between 15 and 50 kms from the site. Most oppose the renewable energy transition and the use of agricultural land, although some were also worried about noise and visual impacts.
Nine objectors live within 5 kms and have raised concerns about road use and traffic impacts, along with fire risk, water supply, dust and noise. They also complained about a lack of consultation from the developers.
