Two Australian wind projects comprising 2.2 gigawatts (GW) of generation capacity are seeking federal approval after referrals were lodged through the EPBC Act.
After Neoen submitted documentation for its Bondo wind farm on Wednesday, Synergy followed closely on Thursday for its Tathra wind farm.
Located in NSW and Western Australia, respectively, Bondo and Tathra both present unique environmental profiles, with Bondo positioned within the Bondo, Wee Jasper, Billapaloola and Red Hill pine plantations in southern NSW and Tathra to span sprawling farmland in WA’s Wheatbelt region.
Neoen has referred Bondo – recognised as a State Significant Development under NSW regulation – to the EPBC Act due to its potential for “significant impacts on matters of national environmental significance”.
“The reason for this EPBC referral to be submitted now is to enable a bilateral assessment for the project,” Neoen said in its referral.
Up to 164 wind turbines are set to be built at Bondo, amounting to a generation capacity of 1.2GW. Neoen would build two four-hour, 400-megawatt (MW) BESS (battery energy storage systems) to accompany the wind farm.
Bondo – which expected to operate for approximately 30 years – would connect to the grid via existing 132-kilovolt (kV) and 330kV transmission lines, with potential to also connect the wind farm into Transgrid’s HumeLink project through an approved 500kV transmission line.
Tathra, on the other hand, would span 15,847 hectares and 14 freehold lots, with Synergy indicating it had legal access to the freehold lots through option-to-lease agreements or landowner consent letters.
“The project area and surrounding area are primarily utilised for low intensity broad-acre agricultural purposes and consist of predominantly cleared land, with pockets of remnant native vegetation that are proposed to be largely retained,” Synergy said in its referral.
Alongside 140 wind turbines with up to 1GW of generation capacity, Synergy plans to build a solar farm of up to 500MW of capacity, and three BESS with a combined capacity of 500MW.
Synergy aims to connect Tathra with the South West Interconnected System.
Public comment for the Bondo wind farm is open until April 30, with the public able to have their say on the Tathra project until May 1.
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