Mainstream Renewable Power and Someva Renewables have been awarded research consent to build a 500MW onshore wind farm in New South Wales

The Sunny Corner project, a joint venture between Mainstream and Someva, received approval following a 15-month competitive bidding and selection process. The project would be one of the first wind farms located within a state plantation forest in New South Wales.

The proposed wind farm will be located within Sunny Corner State Forest, approximately halfway between Lithgow and Bathurst and 200km from Sydney’s central business district. Once fully operational, it could power around 300,000 homes and save over 1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

The next stages of the investigations include the installation of a met mast and consultations with local communities, First Nations, forest users, councils and businesses to understand the local environment and co-design a community benefits program. Following these stages, the project will go through the normal development process seeking planning consent from the NSW Government.

Throughout the development, construction and operation of the wind project, Sunny Corner National Forest will remain accessible to forestry and recreational users.

Much of the Sunny Corner State Forest is used for industrial softwood lumber production by the state forestry corporation. Pine plantations are perfect for building wind farms because they offer large areas in windy locations with access to power lines and the existing road network.

Mainstream group chief executive Mary Quaney said: “We applaud Forestry Corporation’s vision to diversify land use to support the transition to renewable energy and recognize the important role the Sunny Corner wind farm can play in the New South Wales energy transition by ensuring clean, affordable and reliable energy.”

Someva managing director Jamie Chivers added: “This is a significant milestone in the development of New South Wales and an example of how innovative renewable energy solutions can help strengthen the region’s prosperity. We are excited to collaborate with Mainstream on this project. We look forward to bringing together local communities, First Nations people, forest users and local interest groups to understand how we can incorporate their comments into the proposed design.”

Anshul Chaudhary, CEO of Forestry Corporation of New South Wales, concluded: “We are delighted to have granted Mainstream and Someva permission to explore a wind farm in Sunny Corner State Forest. Following a highly competitive tender process, it will be one of four wind farms to be explored on a softwood plantation in the state of New South Wales.

These permits are the first to be issued after the New South Wales Parliament passed an amendment to the Forestry Act 2012, allowing National Forests to undertake renewable energy projects in 2021.

The Sunny Corner project is a 51/49 joint venture between Mainstream Renewable Power and Someva Renewables.

More news and technical articles from the global renewable energy industry can be found in the latest issue of Energy Global magazine.

Energy Global Spring 2024 issue

The Spring 2024 issue of Energy Global begins with guest commentary from Field on how battery storage can serve as a viable solution to reduced energy consumption, before moving on to a regional report by Théodore Reed-Martin, editorial assistant at Energy Global, looking at the state of renewable energy sources in Europe. This issue also includes a number of technical articles on electrical infrastructure, turbine and blade monitoring, battery storage technology, coatings and more.

Read the article online at: https://www.energyglobal.com/wind/23052024/mainstream-renewable-power-and-someva-renewables-awarded-a-500-mw-investigative-permit-for-onshore-wind- farm-w-nsw/