Project Overview

Key components

Recurrent Energy proposes to develop Sundown Solar Farm, a 360 MW photovoltaic electricity generation facility and associated 150 MW battery energy storage system (BESS). If approved, Sundown Solar Farm will connect into the existing 330 kilovolt transmission line that traverses the site.

The project is located within the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), at Spring Mountain, approximately 30 kilometres east of Inverell and 30 km west of Glen Innes, NSW.

The site will be accessed from the Gwydir Highway, Spring Mountain Road and Sturmans Road.

The project comprises the following key components:

• a network of approximately 660,000 PV panels and associated mounting infrastructure
• a 150 MW (AC) battery BESS (4 hour)
• 330 kV onsite substation
• electrical collection and conversion systems, including inverter and transformer units, switchyard and control room
• underground and aboveground cables
• a management hub, including demountable offices and amenities and equipment sheds
• onsite creek crossings
• security fencing
• temporary laydown areas (during construction and decommissioning)
• parking and internal access roads
• lighting
• firefighting infrastructure.

Key benefits

Sundown Solar Farm will play an important role in providing stability to the NSW electricity network. It will also:

• assist to prepare for the retirement of large‐scale coal‐fired power generation.
• generate enough energy for over 150,000 homes each year (based on an average NSW household electricity consumption of 7.3 MWh annually)
• provide local and regional employment
• generate spending in the local and regional economy.

During 35-year operating life, sheep will be permitted to graze within portions of the project footprint. Similarly, land will continue to be used for agricultural purposes on the balance of land that is not occupied by the project footprint.

The project is a temporary, partial and reversible change of land use. At the end of the operation phase, the site will be decommissioned and rehabilitated and returned to agricultural production.

Environmental offsets

The project is being designed to avoid and minimise impacts to biodiversity as much as practicable.

Where impacts to biodiversity cannot be avoided or minimised, the impacts will be offset in accordance with applicable legislation. One option for offsetting is the use of a stewardship sites, which provides landowners with a guaranteed income stream to permanently conserve the stewardship site for conservation purposes.

The project team is investigating opportunities to establish such agreements in the. If you are a landowner within the NSW New England Tablelands region and you are interested in establishing a stewardship site, or you believe you have credits which may be suitable for this development, please contact us to find out more.

Technical summary