The New South Wales (NSW) Independent Planning Commission (IPC) has signed off on the estimated $856 million (USD 564 million) Middlebrook Solar Farm and battery energy storage project being developed by TotalEnergies near Tamworth in the state’s northeast.
The Middlebrook project, proposed by TotalEnergies for a 515-hectare site about 22 kilometres south of Tamworth, is to include a 320 MW solar farm and 320 MW / 780 MWh battery energy storage system. The facility would connect to the National Electricity Market (NEM) via the existing Transgrid 330 kV transmission line that traverses the site.
The NSW government said the project will have the capacity to generate enough renewable energy to power approximately 122,200 homes and will generate up to 400 jobs during the construction phase and up to 15 operational jobs.
The Middlebrook project was approved in August by the NSW government planning department but was automatically referred to the IPC for determination because there were more than 50 public objections,
Key issues identified in the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure’s assessment of the development application included land use compatibility, traffic concerns, and visual impact issues.
In its statement of reasons for the decision, the IPC said it acknowledged the community concerns but granted the project approval, declaring the site “suitable for renewable energy development given its location close to existing electricity transmission networks, topography, solar resources, avoidance of major environmental constraints, access to the state and regional road network and potential for continued use of the land for grazing.”
The Commission did impose a string of conditions on the developer to address the concerns raised. These include upgrades of access roads, dust mitigations strategies, vegetation screening of the battery energy storage system and substation, and an option for landowners to request vegetation screening on properties within 3 km of the project.
The IPC also said TotalEnergies must maintain as much grazing capacity within the development footprint as can practicably co-exist with the project.
The Middlebrook project is part of TotalEnergies’ growing Australian portfolio that includes the 200 MW Kiamal Solar Farm in Victoria, which was commissioned in 2021.
Other projects include 300 MWh of battery storage proposed for the Kiamil site, a 200 MW / 420 MWh battery at Blackwater in Queensland, and it has teamed with Gentari to jointly develop the 100 MW Pleasant Hills solar project in that state’s southwest.
