Australian Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said that planning approval has been granted for the Birriwa solar and battery project, which is being developed by the Australian unit of Philippines-based energy company Acen Corp. in the New South Wales Central-West Orana region.
The Birriwa solar farm is planned for a 1,200-hectare site about 20 kilometers southeast of Dunedoo within the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ). The project will comprise a 600 MW solar farm and a battery energy storage system of up to 600 MW with two hours of storage capacity.
The estimated AUD 1 billion ($666.8 million) project is to connect to the national electricity grid via the Merotherie Energy Hub, part of the new transmission network infrastructure being developed by EnergyCo to accommodate the 6 GW of new generation capacity expected to be added in the Central-West Orana REZ.
The Birriwa project is being built on mostly cleared land currently used for grazing and some cropping, and Acen said grazing activities will continue once the project is complete.
“Projects need to be placed in the right areas and designed so that their environmental impacts are minimised, as is the case with this project,” Plibersek said, reasoning that the project is a win for the environment and households.
Plibersek said the project will support about 500 direct jobs during the construction phase and will have the capacity to generate enough renewable energy to power more than 229,000 homes, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
“We know projects like this are vital to boosting renewables capacity and putting downward pressure on prices, but they are also great for local jobs and economies,” she said.
Acen said it expects to start construction of the project in late 2026 or early 2027, with energy generation anticipated in 2029.
The federal approval comes after the project received the all-clear from the NSW Independent Planning Commission (IPC). The project had been referred to the IPC after attracting at least 50 submissions objecting to its development.
Acen has more than 1 GW capacity of large-scale solar, wind, battery and pumped hydro projects in construction and operations in Australia, and more than 13 GW capacity in the development pipeline.
