News

Plans have been released for two new large-scale renewable energy projects in New South Wales on land associated with coal mining.

Whitehaven Energy is proposing to develop a solar farm adjacent to its existing Narrabri Mine, approximately 25km south-east of Narrabri and approximately 60km north-west of Gunnedah in the New England region.

The Whitehaven Solar Farm will have a capacity of approximately 26MW DC / 20MW AC, providing behind-the-meter electricity to the Narrabri Mine via an existing 66kV transmission line.

The project has an estimated capital investment value of approximately $45mil and is expected to create around 65 jobs during peak construction.

The solar farm has been designed to roughly match the average electricity demand of the mine in 2024, expected to be approximately 11MW, during a winter scenario during solar hours - the worst-case scenario for solar electricity production.

Narrabri Mine is currently permitted to operate until 2044, and so is expected to close prior to the expiration of the design life of the solar farm. Before the mine closes Whitehaven said it will “look at opportunities to divest the solar farm to third parties or decommission the project”.

Yancoal is looking to extend operations at its Stratford Mining Complex in the Hunter Valley region, following the scheduled completion of mining in 2024, by proposing to develop the Stratford Renewable Energy Hub (SREH).

The SREH comprises a proposed Pumped Hydro Energy Storage project with an indicative capacity of 3.6GWh (300MW over 12 hours) alongside a 330MW DC solar farm to supply a portion of the energy requirements of the PHES.

The proposed project is close to existing electricity transmission infrastructure, provides suitable topographic variations for pumped hydro, and has access to water stored in mine voids.

Applicant Gloucester Coal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yancoal, saw the SREH as “an opportunity to integrate closure/rehabilitation activities with construction of the Project, allowing the site to be efficiently transitioned for beneficial re-use (subject to timely approvals)”.

Scoping reports for both projects have been submitted to the NSW state planning authority.

In November last year EDF Renewables and Malabar Resources also announced plans for their 350MW Edderton Solar Farm “to be constructed on land adjacent to Malabar Resources’ Maxwell Underground Mine south of Muswellbrook” in the Hunter Valley.