REGIONAL COUNCIL OF GOYDER
RENEWABLES ENERGY PROJECTS UPDATE REPORT
31 July 2024
1 NEOEN – GOYDER RENEWABLES ZONE
Stage 1,2 & 3 – South of Burra & north of Robertstown near World’s End & Bright. Neoen are the Developers, Owners & Operators of the project & have now commenced Goyder South Stage 1A & 1B for the construction of approximately 75 wind turbines in the hills between Burra & Robertstown and Koonoona Road. Goyder South Stage 1 has received development approval for total of 1200 MW of wind generation, 600 MW of solar generation and 900 MW of battery storage capacity making it the state’s largest renewable project. Goyder North is in planning stages & is comprised of up to 1000MW of wind power& up to 900MW/3600MWh of battery storage.
There are 2 companies who are Consortium Partners with Neoen & are overseeing the project:
- GE Renewable Energy who will be supplying & installing the wind turbines & commissioning the windfarm control system.
- Green Light who will be:
1) designing & supplying all wind farm civil infrastructure (foundations, roads & buildings)
2) design & supply all wind farm civil electrical infrastructure (33kv cables, earthing, communications, wind farm control system)
3) Design, supply & commission HV substation and overhead power line. Green Light is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elecnor and who are specialists in the integrated management of infrastructure projects.
A site office has been constructed on Springbank Road between Burra & Robertstown. Neoen has advised that that it had signed various renewable energy supply contracts with ACT Government in 2020, Flow Power in 2022 & BHP in 2022 to supply power to its Olympic Dam operations from July 2025. The various works undertaken at present include: Civil earth works on the wind tower pads & access roads, cable trenching, local road upgrades & civil works, construction of the 275kV overhead transmission towers for the power sub-station work & construction of the substation. The construction of the wind tower bases & towers & the installation of the wind turbines is currently underway. Construction of the Goyder South wind farm is expected to be completed by mid-2025.
The Community Benefits Sharing Program will provide significant, meaningful benefits to communities around the Goyder Renewables Zone with a commitment of funding of $250000 per annum.
Additional information is available on the Goyder Energy News website at the following link: https://goyderenergy.com.au/
Greenlight & GE Renewable Energy & other contractors have rented approximately 60 properties as well using other motel, hotel, caravan park, worker camp & Paxton Square cottage accommodation in the Burra, Farrell Flat & Clare areas for their workers & staff.
It is estimated that approximately 250 workers are working on the project and are being accommodated in the wider Goyder and Clare regions.
Listen to our project manager, Ines Bechameil, as she explains the construction journey of Goyder South Stage 1 and what motivates her in building this wind farm
2 ELECTRANET PROJECT ENERGY CONNECT – INTERCONNECTOR
From the Robertstown Power Substation to the SA/NSW border. ElectraNet are managing the construction of the transmission line & power substations for the project & the section between Robertstown & Morgan is of particular interest to the local community. The power transmission line was constructed by Downers & other substation work was undertaken by Consolidated Power Projects at Robertstown substation and a new smaller substation at Bundey about 12 kms from the Robertstown substation.
Construction of the transmission line towers commenced in May 2022 starting on the SA/NSW border & moving west back to Robertstown & was completed in late December 2023. Project Energy Connect is the largest transmission project ever delivered by Electranet. The transmission line covers 206 kilometres from Robertstown to the SA/NSW border & includes a new 330kV substation at Bundey.
Inter-network testing of Stage 1 of the whole interconnector from Robertstown to Wagga Wagga in NSW is scheduled to begin following construction completion of Stage 1 works on the NSW side by Transgrid by June 2024 with release of up to 150MW of power transfer capability by November 2024, subject to successful testing.
3 EPS ENEGY/AMP ENERGY – ROBERTSTOWN SOLAR
Near Robertstown Power Substation, 5kms north-east of Robertstown.
The following information was provided by Brynne Jayatilaka, Senior Development Manager of Amp Energy on 19 July 2024.
Amp Power Australia Pty Ltd, on behalf of Robertstown Solar submitted the formal application for connection to ElectraNet in March 2023, and has in July 2024 received 5.3.4A Letters formally accepting the proposed Negotiated Generator Performance Standards, a prerequisite for executing the Transmission Connection Agreement, which is currently under negotiation. Further site studies have also been completed in readiness for a formal BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) supply and construction tender process to be commenced in the coming months. The project has executed Heritage Agreements with the Ngadjuri, and First Peoples of the River Murry and Mallee, with Cultural Heritage Management Plans under draft. An EPBC self-assessment has been compiled, and a referral will be lodged to the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water in the coming months. An application to clear native vegetation will also be submitted to the South Australian Native Vegetation Council, noting more than 99 % of the development will be located on Farmland.
Due to site constraints realised from pre-construction investigation works, post development approval, on the Robertstown Solar project site, approximately 200MW+ of PVS solar generation is currently considered unviable for construction. Amp has therefore lodged a new Development Application for up to 300MW (AC) of solar generation on land adjacent (east) to the approved Robertstown Solar project. The additional generation project is called “Robertstown East Solar”. Consultation is scheduled for July.
4 SOLAR RIVER PROJECT
Near Florieton between Burra & Morgan.
The project includes a 256MW photovoltaic array comprising 400000 solar panels and a 200MW battery at a capital cost of $540 million. The project is estimated to require 250 workers over the construction period of 2 years. Zen Energy have been announced as a development partner & the following information was provided by Dan Manderson, Technical Manager of Zen Energy on 9 July 2024.
ZEN Energy continues to progress the development of the Solar River Project. We recently publicly exhibited a development approval variation to update our transmission network connection point to the new Bundey substation. We are continuing to work with ElectraNet to finalise their approvals for us to connect the project to their network – that process is expected to conclude late this year. Construction of the project is now anticipated to commence during 2025.
5 AUSTRALIA PLAINS SOLAR FARM – GREEN GOLD ENERGY
Approx 16 kms north-east of Eudunda.
Green Gold Energy plan to build a 200MW solar farm & 200MW BESS (Battery Energy Storage System at Mickan Road, Australia Plains. As provided by Elton Zhang, the Project Coordinator, an amended Development Application has been lodged & community consultation is currently being undertaken. They are awaiting connection approval to the grid and then construction is planned to commence at the end of 2026.
They are also planning a 108MW solar farm & 91 MW BESS on the Goyder Highway near Morgan & Development Application approval has been given for that project. Construction is expected to commence at the beginning of 2026.
6 TWIN CREEK WIND FARM – RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS (RES)
Between Eudunda and Kapunda.
The original project has been revised to take advantage of the substantial evolution in wind turbine technology and RES has optimized the Project layout and will soon be resubmitting a development application for the Twin Creek Wind Farm.
The optimised project is expected to involve the construction and operation of up to 42 wind turbine generators with a generation capacity of up to 7.2 MW (nominal) and a total name-plate capacity of up to 270MW. This will see a significant uplift in its capacity for clean energy generation whilst reducing the number of turbines to be installed. Information about the Project is available on their recently updated website https://www.twincreek-windfarm.com/ (right click & Open Hyperlink)
The following additional information was provided by Roberta Magoba, Development Project manager of RES Australia on 24 June 2024.
We are in the process of compiling further documentation to include in the technical reports prepared for the optimised Project (including, but not limited to ecology, visual and traffic). The additional documentation is expected to be submitted to the State Commission Assessment Panel in the coming months. An updated project timeline will be provided on the Project website following the submission of this additional documentation.
7 WHYTE YARCOWIE WIND FARM
Wind Prospect is undertaking planning for the development of a wind farm near Whyte Yarcowie with up to 85 wind turbines. The proposed site is around 3 km east of the Whyte Yarcowie township, 8.5 km north of Hallett and 6 km south of Terowie. The following update report was provided by Jennifer McDonnell, Stakeholder Engagement of Wind Prospect on 16 July 2024.
The planning and development of the Whyte Yarcowie Wind Farm project is progressing well, with the project moving from the feasibility phase into the environmental and planning approvals phase in the first half of 2024.
The project team has begun preparing the project’s Licence application documents under the new Hydrogen and Renewable Energy Act 2023, and are looking to finalise the documentation in 2024.
The project team will be hosting a series of Community Information Sessions in the coming months to share more details about the project as well as findings from the feasibility investigations with the community.
Details of these community information sessions will be circulated ahead of those events.
For more information about the Whyte Yarcowie Wind Farm please head to our website whyteyarcowiewindfarm.com.au, call our information line on 1800 595 197, or email us on
info@whyteyarcowiewindfarm.com.au
A reminder that the project sponsorship fund is open and accepting applications. Please get in contact if you have a community group, project or event that could use some support.
For further information, please go to the project website https://whyteyarcowiewindfarm.com.au/
8 SA WATER – MORGAN WHYALLA PIPELINE RENEWAL
SA Water announced on 10 January 2022, that they are planning to replace sections of the Morgan Whyalla pipeline. The pipeline is a 358 kilometre long, above ground pipeline that was constructed in the 1940’s for the transfer of bulk water supplies to the Iron Triangle cities of Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla and supply to the Mid North, Yorke Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula water distribution networks.
SA Water, together with contractors, McConnell Dowell Diona Joint Venture are planning to replace up to 34 kilometres of the pipeline and most of this replacement will be occurring on the section between Morgan and Burra. The sections being replaced will be constructed adjacent to the existing pipeline and will remain above ground.
The commencement of the project has been delayed due to the resubmission of additional environmental requirements with the Federal Government. This application is expected to be approved by October 2024 & construction is expected to commence in the 1st quarter of 2025.
9 OTHER NEW RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS
Other Renewable Energy projects that are planning to commence in the Goyder region are: Risen Energy – Geranium Plains Solar & Storage Farm (near Robertstown), Solarig Australia – solar & green hydrogen farm (location not yet advised), Neoen Blyth BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) project, Hallett BESS project & the Razorback Iron Ore Project (high voltage transmission link from Bundey, near Robertstown to the location of the iron ore project near Yunta).
LOCAL ADVANTAGES & BENEFITS
The Regional Council of Goyder councilors & staff, the Burra Community Association, Eudunda Community Business & Tourism Committee (ECBaT) & the Robertstown & District Community & Management Committee are ensuring that the maximum possible impact & interaction is gained from these projects in the local communities in the Goyder Region from Burra to Eudunda by connecting the contractors of each project to the local labour force, accommodation & food providers & other businesses. This is being done as a community service project with Mel Zerner, a former local Eudunda resident, voluntarily assisting Goyder Council & the other community groups in this initiative.
Mel is in regular contact with the key owners or employees of all the above projects to obtain status reports and then respond to their local requirements as needed.
If you have any questions on the status of the any of the above projects or local requirements or want to include your accommodation, labour or local business services on the registers, please contact Mel on Mobile 0418 852 353.