{"id":47691,"date":"2021-02-17T05:49:22","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T19:19:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=47691"},"modified":"2021-02-17T05:49:22","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T19:19:22","slug":"kootingal-solar-farm-mb1882","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/kootingal-solar-farm-mb1882\/","title":{"rendered":"DA Lodged For Kootingal Solar Farm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kootingal<\/p>\n

A development application for a proposed small utility-scale solar farm pretty much on the doorstep of a town near Tamworth in New South Wales has been submitted to Tamworth Regional Council.<\/p>\n

Kootingal<\/a> is an agriculture-focused community with a population of approximately 2,500 <\/span> situated around 17 kilometres from Tamworth. Kootingal is within the New England region, which the State Government wants to make a Renewable Energy Zone hosting 8,000MW of renewable capacity, generating around $12.7 billion in private sector investment and creating thousands of jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n

IT Power (Development) Pty Ltd1<\/a><\/sup> is proposing a 6.4MWdc\/5MWac solar farm that will feature 12,100 solar panels<\/a> installed on trackers across 140 rows running north to south on the site. Two inverter stations incorporating high and moderate voltage switchgear and transformers will connect by way of underground cables to a 11kV feeder line connecting to the mains electricity grid at the Essential Energy Kootingal Zone substation.<\/p>\n

The facility is expected to generate more than 12.9 gigawatt hours of energy and offset almost 8.5 thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions annually.<\/p>\n

Location, Location, Location<\/h2>\n

While this is a small solar farm by utility-scale standards, something that may present a challenge to ITP in getting the project over the line is how close it is to the town. The project’s Statement of Environmental Effects document indicates the site is located approximately 1 kilometre west of Kootingal, but it appears the edge of the facility will be significantly closer to the edge of the town – under 700 metres.<\/p>\n

Living close to thousands of solar panels is not everyone’s cup of tea as has been demonstrated many times in Australia over the years. Sometimes the concerns are well-founded, others can be, well, odd. In some instances, resistance is primarily attributable to poor communications on the part of the developer\/proponent.<\/p>\n

This project has a few attributes that may help win over the local community.<\/p>\n