ACEN Australia proposes to develop the Birriwa Solar Farm and Battery Project. The project consists of a 600-megawatt (MW) solar farm and a centralised or a direct current (DC)-coupled battery energy storage system (BESS) with a capacity of up to 1,000 MW and four hours of storage. The capacity and storage of the BESS are yet to finalised.
The project will be located in Birriwa, approximately 15 kilometres south-west of Dunedoo, in the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area, within the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).
The project will connect to the National Electricity Market via a transmission line currently being developed by the NSW Government as part of the REZ infrastructure program. UPC\AC are investigating different options to connect to the proposed REZ transmission link.
Key Dates
| Oct 2021 | Project Announcement |
Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | UPC\AC Renewables Australia |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Oct 2021 | UPC\AC Renewables Australia submitted the scoping report to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) and requested the Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for the project. |
| Nov 2021 | SEARs were issued for the project. |
| Sep 2022 | An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was released for the project. |
| Oct 2022 | The project's state significant development application was placed on exhibition until the 11th of November alongside the EIS and accompanying documents. |
| Feb 2023 | ACRI and UPC Renewables Asia Pacific Holdings (UPCAPH) signed an Instrument of Transfer for the transfer to ACRI of UPCAPH’s remaining 4,766 ordinary shares in UPC-AC Energy Australia (HK) Limited, which completes the second and final tranche of ACRI’s acquisition of ACEN Australia. The acquisition transforms the UPC\AC Renewables Australia joint venture into ACEN Australia. |
| Oct 2023 | The NSW Government placed the projects Environmental Impact Statement on exhibition, closing 10 November. |
