Ratch Australia, the local subsidiary of Thailand-based Ratch Group, and Sydney-based solar developer Terrain Solar, which was acquired by energy giant AGL last month, said the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Maison Dieu solar farm and battery energy storage project is now on public exhibition.
The Maison Dieu project, being developed on a 90-hectare site about 10 kilometres northwest of Singleton in the Hunter Valley, will include approximately 110,000 solar panels with a targeted generation capacity of 60 MW.
The estimated $127 million (USD 86.8 million) project will also include an integrated 40 MW, two-hour capacity battery energy storage system that will provide firmed renewable electricity to the National Electricity Market.
Originally the design comprised a 150 MW solar farm and a battery system with a capacity of approximately 150 MW and up to four hours of storage, but the developers said they have refined the project to “ensure potential environmental and social impacts were minimised and benefits to the community and stakeholders were maximised.”
The proponents said the redesigned project, that will connect to the grid through Ausgrid’s existing 66 kV / 132 kV Singleton substation, will contribute towards Australia’s clean energy transition and the continued growth of renewable energy generation and storage capacity in the proposed Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone.
“The project will support the transformation of the energy sector from a centralised system of large fossil fuel (coal and gas) generation towards an array of smaller scale and widely dispersed wind, solar and other renewable energy generators,” the proponents said in the EIS.
“Existing NSW coal-fired power plants (capacity of approximately 8,000 MW) are planned to be retired by 2040. New, low emission energy sources are required to replace power plants and to meet future energy demands.”
The Maison Dieu project is one of two projects being developed in partnership by Ratch and Terrain Solar.
Terrain recently announced the successful commercial close and handover of the first of these, the 152 MW Marulan solar and 81 MW / 162 MWh battery project being developed near Goulburn in southern NSW.
Ratch will now build, own, and maintain the Marulan project with construction expected to commence later this year.
If all approvals are gained, Ratch will also construct and operate the Maison Dieu project as part of its broader Australian portfolio.
In addition to the Maison Dieu proposal, Ratch has also lodged the EIS for a large-scale battery project with two hours of storage being developed at Beryl, near Gulgong in the NSW central west.
The proposed 100 MW / 200 MWh Beryl project would connect to the NEM via the existing 66 kV / 132 kV Beryl substation located adjacent to the southern boundary of the project area.
Construction of the project is expected to commence in early 2025.
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