The green light has been given to the region’s first solar energy farm which is set to be constructed at a cost of $3m on open farmland near Millicent.
If all goes to plan, 4.5mw of energy generated by the sun via panels will be fed into the national grid via the adjoining Snuggery sub-station.
Public comment was invited last year on Adelaide-based Nowa Energeia’s application to develop a 4.95mw solar farm.
The requisite building and planning approvals have now been secured.
The land is owned by locals Robert and Kaye White and they live on the property.
Details of the solar farm were contained in a 27-page report which was prepared by consultant planner Catherine Lyon from Millicent firm Frank Brennan Consulting Services.
Ms Lyon finished the construction of the solar energy farm was an appropriate use for the land fronting Jennings Road and the Princes Highway.
“The south-eastern portion of the allotment is proposed to be utilised for the solar farm which has an area of 12.06 hectares,” Ms Lyon said.
“Solar PV farms use the same technology that has become abundant on the roof tops of Australian homes and businesses, but with the solar panels mounted on a light steel structures fixed to the ground.
“The solar farm will connect directly to the national electricity grid via the existing overhead cabling supplied from the Snuggery sub-station.”
The proposed solar energy farm is located near the Kimberly-Clark Australia Millicent Mill, Roundwood Solutions timber treatment plant, the former Cellulose Mill industrial estate and Blue Lake Dairy Group powdered milk processing facility.
Ms Lyon’s report also highlighted the benefits of solar PV farms as their low visual impact, rising only a few metres off the ground, no operational environmental impact and ability to produce energy during most daylight hours, balancing the significant energy used for cooling in Australia.
The development would also include the construction of a small switch room substation.
Frank Brennan Consulting Services was also the consultant planner for the $38.5m storage battery for the Lake Bonney windfarms which became operational in 2019.
