Overview
The Walcha Energy Project will create long term, enduring and resilient renewable energy solutions for Australia.
New energy capacity is required due to the Liddell Power Station retirement in 2022/2023 and the announced retirement of Eraring Power Station by 2025 and other coal-fired power plants by the early 2030's.
The Walcha Energy Project will be completed in phases. Salisbury Solar Project submitted the scoping study in 2019 and the EIS is anticipated to be submitted late 2022. The development of the RubyHillsWind Project commenced the approval process in 2020 with construction planned to commence in 2024, with first generation by 2025. The entire project is planned to deliver over 4GW of renewable energy generation.
The Walcha Energy Project will bring significant benefits to the New England region and local communities.
Regional impact
Community Benefits
New energy capacity is required due to the Liddell Power Station retirement in 2022/2023 and the announced retirement of Eraring Power Station by 2025 and other coal-fired power plants by the early 2030's.
The Walcha Energy Project will be completed in phases. Salisbury Solar Project submitted the scoping study in 2019 and the EIS is anticipated to be submitted late 2022. The development of the RubyHillsWind Project commenced the approval process in 2020 with construction planned to commence in 2024, with first generation by 2025. The entire project is planned to deliver over 4GW of renewable energy generation.
The Walcha Energy Project will bring significant benefits to the New England region and local communities.
Regional impact
- Significant investment in the New England area
- Opportunities for local contractors, businesses and services industries
- Employment opportunities during construction and operational periods
- Develop new skilled jobs in the region for a growth industry
Community Benefits
- Landowner agreements developed to balance the interests of landholders and the developer
- An innovative benefit sharing and ownership model for near neighbours, distant neighbours and the general community
Project details
Wind
The wind resource in the New England is extensive and the project covers most of the plateau that surrounds Walcha. The proposed wind farms will have a combined capacity of approximately 3400MW. The first farms will be located in the Winterbourne and Moona areas to the north east of Walcha, which are about 25km south east of the nearest grid connection point at Uralla.
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Solar
The northern section of the plateau, closer to Uralla, has extensive areas of relatively flat and dry land with few trees which are currently predominantly used for sheep grazing. These areas are suitable for utility scale solar farms with a capacity of 350 to 700MW.
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Pumped Storage Hydro
Deep gorges to the east and south of the Walcha plateau provide the right topography for pumepd hydro energy storage. Several locations around the Dungowan Dam have been identified, with plans for multiple 300MW / 3000MWh PHES facilities being developed. |
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Here's a short video of some of the project locations. The video was taken as part of a helicopter site tour in April 2018.
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