Susanna Freymark
There are plans to start building a solar farm at Ellangowan in April 2028.
Emu Park Energy Hub will be discussed at a public meeting this Tuesday, October 14 at Coraki Youth Hall at 9am-12pm and 4pm-7pm.
The 580hectare solar farm site at 285 Emu Park Road, Ellangowan is expected to produce up to 350megawatts of renewable electricity. This will feed directly into the grid via an on‑site connection to TransGrid’s high‑voltage transmission lines.
Melten Energy and Metals is the company behind the project.
It is anticipated Emu Park will deliver about 707,000 megawatt hours of clean energy each year—enough to power 115,000 average homes, according to Melten.
The public meeting is part of the process for the company to lodge a scoping report by the end of October. An Environmental Impact Statement is due in June next year.
Melten said solar farms have an expected lifespan of 25 to 30 years, with photovoltaic panels degrading by 0.5%per year.
The company has delivered new solar farms across at Corowa, Junee and Wagga Wagga. They are developing other solar projects in Queensland at Moura, Munna Creek and Kingaroy and in NSW at Wyalong.
As a large-scale renewable energy proposal, the Emu Park project is considered a State Significant Development under NSW planning laws and is subject to a rigorous approval process.
A scoping report will be submitted to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment.
Here are some questions the company anticipates and its answers.
Will solar panels generate glare or glint?
Studies on operational solar farms show that photovoltaic panels are designed to reflect minimal light to maximise efficiency. Metlen intends to use equipment designed to mitigate reflection and glare impacts.
How will the visual impact be managed?
The solar modules’ design and site location will minimise visual impact, with landscaping around the site perimeter screening other site features such as offices and parking.
How will you clean the panels?
Metlen will only use distilled/purified water, leaving zero residue. Our solar projects will not create any contamination to the water or land, unlike residential or other forms of development, which add contamination risks from new/additional septic systems, lawn pesticides, and the like.
Is there a danger of runaway fire from the BESS?
Modern Battery Energy Storage Systems have low fire danger mainly because of their design and safety features:
BESS are made up of many small modules. Each module holds battery cells and is kept separate from others. This helps stop a fire from spreading if one module gets too hot or has a problem.
Each module has its own sensors and controls to constantly check temperature, voltage, and other signs of trouble. If an issue is detected, that module can be quickly shut down or isolated.
There are built-in cooling systems to keep the batteries at a safe temperature and prevent overheating.
The modules are housed in strong, fire-resistant cases, and the whole system has fire detection and suppression systems.
Safer battery types, like lithium iron phosphate are often used because they are less likely to catch fire.
The system layout includes space and ventilation to prevent fires from spreading.
All these features combine to reduce fire risk and make it easier to control any problem that might happen.
Melten said fire incidents in BESS are very rare — less than 0.01% of all installations have experienced fire events.
If you want to know more or disagree with what Melten has said here, go to the meeting on Tuesday.