Sydney-based renewables developer Ace Power and the local arm of Japanese energy giant Osaka Gas are seeking approval under the federal government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act for a solar and battery energy storage project planned for central New South Wales (NSW).
The Forbes Solar Farm project, being developed by Ace Power in partnership with Osaka Gas Energy Australia, comprises a 141 MWdc solar farm and a battery energy storage system with an approximate capacity of 120 MW and up to four hours of storage.
The project is planned for a 270-hectare site about 11 km north of the township of Forbes. The facility is to connect directly to Transgrid’s existing 132 kV high-voltage transmission line that traverses the project site to enable power to be exported into the National Electricity Market.
The proponents said the project will “help address a real and current need” to provide new energy generation and storage capacity to assist the electricity market transition from coal.
“Specifically, the Forbes Solar Farm will seek to optimise the generation and storage of renewable energy along an established high-voltage transmission line,” they said.
“The solar farm would be operational 24/7 with energy production from the solar farm and battery charging and discharging occurring during the day and battery charging and discharging (potentially) at night.”
Subject to approval, construction on the Forbes Solar Farm is scheduled to commence in October 2026. The construction phase is expected to take up to 18 months and generate about 100 jobs.
In addition, the developers said if the project is approved and constructed it will provide an additional income stream to associated landholders and the land will remain under agricultural management with sheep able to graze amongst the solar panels.
The Forbes Solar Farm is part of an agreement reached in 2023 by Ace Power and Osaka Gas to jointly develop a portfolio of solar and battery projects with a total capacity of more than 500 MW in NSW and Queensland. Included in that are the 129 MW Burdekin and 72 MW Mareeba solar farms in Queensland, and the 150 MW Narrabri Solar Farm in NSW.
They are in turn part of Ace Power’s growing portfolio of renewable energy generation and storage projects.
The Sydney-headquartered developer, which has backing from Germany’s Pelion Green Future, has an estimated 8 GW of large-scale solar PV, wind and battery energy storage projects in development in Australia.
Its projects include the Eastern Hub Firming Battery, a proposed 1,000 MW battery energy storage system with up to 8,000 MWh of capacity planned for northern NSW, the recently approved 900 MW / 3600 MWh Nebo and 500 MW / 2000 MWh Raglan battery projects, both in Queensland, and the Narrogin Solar Farm and battery hybrid project being developed in the Western Australia. That project is to include a 200 MW solar farm coupled with a 200 MW / 400 MWh battery.
It is also seeking federal approval for its 450 MW / 1,800 MWh Talbingo battery project to be built alongside the Snowy Hydro scheme in NSW.
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