Three pumped hydro tasks that can present a mixed 1,035 MW/9,480 MWh of dispatchable capability are amongst six tasks declared crucial, state-significant infrastructure by the New South Wales authorities in Australia.
From pv journal Australia
The New South Wales (NSW) authorities has recognized six renewable vitality tasks, together with three large-scale pumped hydro schemes and a trio of electrical transmission tasks as high-priority infrastructure tasks the state wants for for financial causes.
NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully introduced that each one six tasks have now been declared Critical State Significant Infrastructure (CSSI) as they’re “important to the NSW financial system, society and the atmosphere.”
CSSI standing signifies that no third occasion can file a authorized enchantment towards tasks with out the minister’s approval. The declaration additionally signifies that the minister gave the venture the inexperienced gentle as soon as it moved into the planning course of.
“The substantive improve in renewable vitality proposals indicators confidence from the broader trade in our authorities’s capability to maneuver tasks by means of the planning system,” Scully mentioned.
The tasks embrace the 335 MW/2,680 MWh Lake Lyell pumped hydro venture being developed by EnergyAustralia close to Lithgow, and the 400 MW, eight-hour Muswellbrook pumped hydro venture being developed by AGL in partnership with Idemitsu Australia at Muswellbrook within the Hunter Valley. .
The listing additionally contains the Stratford Renewable Energy Hub being developed by Yancoal Australia within the Hunter. The venture contains 300 MW / 3,600 MWh of pumped hydro vitality storage and a 330 MW photo voltaic farm.
The transmission tasks embrace the Victoria NSW Interconnector which is able to hyperlink the HumeLink Project in NSW with the Western Victoria Transmission Network Project and the Mount Piper to Wallerawang venture which is able to strengthen the connection between the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) and the key demand facilities.
The third transmission venture will ship infrastructure to attach renewable vitality era and storage tasks throughout the New England REZ to the present community.
The standing of the CSSI doesn’t imply that the tasks will go forward with an all-of-government evaluation that also must be executed on the tasks together with the exhibition and a possibility for submission from the general public.
“These tasks can be topic to a complete evaluation that can embrace a public exhibition interval looking for submissions from the neighborhood,” Scully mentioned.
Popular content material
The Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure will now difficulty to venture proponents a report on the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements to allow them to put together an environmental impression assertion for neighborhood suggestions.
AGL Energy Hubs General Manager Travis Hughes welcomed the announcement, saying he was happy to see the federal government acknowledge the essential position pumped hydro can play in offering important long-term storage for the grid. electrical energy in NSW.
“The 400 MW Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro plant is predicted to have a 100-year asset life and supply eight hours of vitality storage,” he mentioned. “That’s 4 instances the storage period and 5 instances the asset lifetime of most battery storage programs right now.”
The state authorities says if permitted, all six tasks will assist keep the state’s vitality safety and keep very important vitality provides to houses and companies throughout peak-demand intervals whereas the coal-fired energy crops will exit the system.
“The three proposed transmission tasks will join extra renewable vitality mills to the National Energy Market to draw extra funding to NSW, whereas the three proposed pumped hydro tasks will present dependable vitality era, capability and dispatch energy when photo voltaic or wind sources aren’t accessible,” it mentioned in an announcement.
The NSW authorities says there are at the moment as much as 30 renewable vitality tasks with a mixed capability of 12.1 GW beneath evaluation in NSW. An further 87 tasks, together with photo voltaic, wind, battery storage and pumped hydro tasks are in varied levels of the planning pipeline.
This content material is protected by copyright and is probably not reused. If you wish to cooperate with us and wish to reuse a few of our content material, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.