I WRITE to correct some of the statements made in recent letters about the proposed solar farm at Brewongle.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The solar farm will look much different from ground level. Pictures provided to the Western Advocate of the Nyngan solar farm are taken from a drone and this is not a realistic perspective of the view from neighbours.
Also, due to the undulating country, there will not be a panoramic view of the solar farm, which will be hidden bellow hill lines, and will also run along the existing railway and under the existing high voltage power lines.
There will be some visual sightlines of sections of the farms for neighbouring farmers and we are scheduling times to talk to the neighbouring property holders about vegetation screening and moving some potential panel lines to minimise impact.
Anyone concerned can email brewonglesolarfarm@photonenergy.com so we can visit them during November and December.
The solar panels will be set back at least 300 metres from Tarana Road across a paddock. Any fencing will be around the actual panels and not next to the road.
There is no evidence of property values changing because of solar farms. The location has been chosen because it is not next to homes. Solar farms do not impact neighbouring land values.
There are no government subsidies. The only revenue from the farm will come from selling electricity into the national electricity market and from selling renewable energy certificates to companies that generate carbon dioxide.
Photon Energy was founded by Australian solar energy entrepreneur Michael Gartner. All the investment being put into this project is private funding.
The construction phase of the project will require approximately 100 full-time workers. We have a proven track record of using local expertise and businesses. When we developed a solar plant in Leeton, locals did 80 per cent of the work, including installation of the solar panels, ground structure, cabling, switchboards and civil works.
Once operational, the facility will support up to 10 permanent local jobs - two or three permanent staff managing the plant and another seven or eight in engineering functions, site maintenance and land management.
Some of these jobs will be employed by Photon Energy and others by specialist contractors. We are already creating a database of potential local suppliers.
This solar farm, at just 200 hectares, is a tiny 0.00001 per cent of the 371,000,000 hectares of agricultural land in Australia. And it will continue to be used to run sheep!