Five years after a development application for Bookaar Solar Farm in Victoria was originally lodged, it looks like the project can finally go ahead.
Bookaar Renewables (Infinergy Pacific) has been plugging away at progressing a proposed 200 MWac (282 MWdc) solar farm with battery storage (capacity unknown) at Bookaar in southwest Victoria since 2018. The 588 ha site – agricultural land – is approximately 8 kilometres north of the township of Camperdown.
To say the project has faced some challenges would be an understatement.
In 2018, Corangamite Shire Council flat-out rejected the proposal. Council received 86 submissions concerning the application, with 81 opposing. Objections were all the usual suspects that pop up in opposition to large-scale solar farm developments – use of productive agricultural land, fire concerns, flooding issues, aesthetics, and the list goes on.
The application then went before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) on appeal in August 2019. VCAT upheld Council’s decision.
Bookaar Renewables gave a modified development application a crack with the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP) in late 2020 after new planning guidelines for large-scale solar farms in Victoria came into effect. The fresh application took into consideration some of the objections previously tabled, including flooding and fire concerns.
Council continued opposition during the DELWP process.
Bookaar Breakthrough
Bookaar Renewables’ desire to kick off construction last year wasn’t going to be fulfilled. But the company says in December 2021, its Development Application received a Notice of Decision to Grant a Permit from Victoria’s Minister for Planning1.
However, another appeal was lodged with VCAT.
Bookaar Renewables said late last month the appeal would likely be heard by VCAT towards the end of 2022. But The Standard reports (paywall) VCAT has given the green light for the project after mediation hearings.
At the time of publishing, the nitty-gritty of the mediation hearings wasn’t publicly available on the VCAT website. Corangamite Shire Council didn’t seem to be particularly overjoyed by the result, but satisfied a number of community concerns have been addressed; including comprehensive conditions relating to drainage and bushfire/emergency management imposed.
It will be a bittersweet victory for Bookaar Renewables too – no doubt there have been significant costs involved with getting the project over the line. It really highlights the importance of cultivating and maintaining social licence for proposed large-scale solar projects from the get-go.
Still, the company can now get started. During construction, up to 150 jobs will be created. During its operational phase, Bookaar Solar Farm will support 6 full time equivalent (local) positions during its expected 28-year operational phase. Assuming construction begins this year – and a start date isn’t clear yet – the solar farm should be operational before the end of 2023.
While estimated output of the solar farm isn’t mentioned on the project web site, Bookaar Renewables says it will generate enough energy per year to supply the equivalent of approximately 92,000 average Victorian households.
Footnotes
- The DELWP web site indicates the the permit was issued on July 5, 2022. ↩
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“Assuming construction begins this year – and a start date isn’t clear yet – the solar farm should be operational before the end of 2023.”
I’d suggest the extended delay has probably substantially increased input costs. David Scaysbrook, the co-founder and joint managing partner of Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, says buyers of solar models are likely to pay 30 per cent more if they need to get hold of them in the next 12 months, and 40 per cent more for battery storage units.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/price-of-solar-modules-and-battery-storage-have-jumped-by-one-third-in-us/
Within the next ten years, a large portion of the NEM’s coal-fired generating capacity will inevitably be withdrawn.
IMO, if there are enough NIMBYs then nothing gets done to arrest Australia’s increasingly precarious energy security situation (risking the lights going out & transport stopping), and assist in mitigating the climate emergency (risking food supplies getting scarcer/expensive & increasingly more parts of Australia becoming unlivable).
See pdf file (10.4 MB): https://www.ipcn.nsw.gov.au/resources/pac/media/files/pac/project-submissions/2022/05/mt-pleasant-optimisation-project-ssd-10418/20220708t144208/theclimateenergycrisis20220708.pdf
Your statement that solar farms “risk… the lights going out & transport stopping), and risking food supplies getting scarcer/expensive & increasingly more parts of Australia becoming unlivable” is spot on.
The more prime agricultural land that is covered in panels the less carbon is absorbed by pasture and the less good land is available to more efficiently produce food for all of us.
ann moore,
“Your statement that solar farms “risk… the lights going out & transport stopping), and risking food supplies getting scarcer/expensive & increasingly more parts of Australia becoming unlivable”…”
…is a blatant misrepresentation of what I had stated.
“The more prime agricultural land that is covered in panels the less carbon is absorbed by pasture and the less good land is available to more efficiently produce food for all of us.”
Evidence/data?
Researchers are showing how solar-PV panels can increase yields and reduce water use on a warming planet.
https://www.wired.com/story/growing-crops-under-solar-panels-now-theres-a-bright-idea/
https://ceat.org.au/the-benefits-of-agrivoltaics-in-agriculture/
There are none so blind as those who will not see.
There are plenty of studies showing solar arrays retain more carbon in the ground due to shade retaining more moisture in the soil, and there’s plenty of examples of solar farms and sheep grazing activities sharing the same plot becoming more and more evident, assisting farmers to create an additional income, particularly when times get a bit tough due to weather events.
Transmission is still the major sticking point for farmers, of which there are finally some signs that farmers may finally get some just recompense, but there’s a lot of water to go under that bridge.
I still find it laughable that there’s a view that both solar and wind farms are a blight on the landscape, but are okay with the fact that land has been cleared previously for crops and grazing, instead of the pristine forest that originally covered our pre-European days.
Realise food is a necessity, but so is electricity, and in particular clean electricity, which if we don’t progress in a changing climate, makes it very difficult to grow or graze under a foot of water or on scorched ground.
If we need to clear land, let’s ensure we get the most out of it by providing food and energy.