Engie Readying For Yass Energy Park Project

Engie ANZ is gearing up for a proposed large-scale solar + battery project outside Yass in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales.

The Yass Tribune reports Engie ANZ has acquired the Yass solar farm project and secured leases for three adjoining properties, with plans to expand on the original concept.

What the original project was and which company it was acquired from isn’t clear. I’m guessing it was Tetris Energy’s proposed 80MW solar and 20MW battery facility that was to be built adjacent to one of NSW’s key transmission substations at Yass, not far from the outskirts of the town.

Engie aims for now what’s known as Yass Energy Park to be 139MW capacity, which the company states will generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 51,000 average NSW homes. Engie says preliminary estimates peg the number of solar panels involved to be “up to 220,000”. The capacity of the battery energy storage system (BESS) isn’t noted. It’s intended agricultural activities will be able to continue alongside the operation of the facility.

Among the benefits for the Yass area community aside from supporting Australia’s transition to cleaner and cheaper energy will be local employment and contractor opportunities during construction and operation, and increased spending locally associated with this activity. There will also be a community benefits program created for local initiatives.

Engie is encouraging prospective suppliers and workers to register their interest in playing a role in the project.

Next Steps For Yass Energy Park

It’s still very early days, with no formal timeline as yet. Engie ANZ is to host community information sessions early in 2023; the details of which will be published online and in the local paper. There’s already a short online community feedback survey associated with the project

Along with results of various other local studies, this information will be considered in the concept design for Yass Energy Park.

This stage will be followed by scoping report lodgement, continued engagement and studies, Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) lodgement and exhibition, and all the other bits, nips and tucks associated with getting the green light for such a facility. Engie reportedly aims to seek development approval in 2024.

Solar Panels Popular In Yass

How the local community will react to the expanded Yass Energy Park project remains to be seen, but many of the town’s residents are already familiar with and benefiting from solar power.

In Yass, solar panels are just about everywhere you look on the rooftops of homes and businesses. More than 2,395 small-scale systems have been installed in the Yass postcode area as the end of October this year; with a collective capacity of an estimated 16,317 kW.

Yass already punches well above its weight on PV when it comes to small scale systems; i.e. those under 100kW capacity. With a population of 12,722 (Census 2021 – postcode 2582 ), the small scale capacity tally works out to 1,283 watts per person compared to a ~ 782 watts Australian average.

Original Source: https://www.solarquotes.com.au/blog/yass-energy-park-mb2759/