Pinecrest Solar Farm

A 130 megawatt solar farm which will include an electrical substation and associated infrastructure.

Banpu Energy Australia | Lidsdale, approximately 12 km north west of Lithgow, New South Wales

Project overview
Banpu Energy Australia (Banpu Energy) proposes to develop the Pinecrest Solar Farm, which comprises a large scale solar photovoltaic generation facility along with associated infrastructure including an onsite substation. The project will have an indicative capacity of up to 100 megawatts, which will generate the equivalent of approximately 226 gigawatt hours of energy annually.

The project will be connected to the National Electricity Market (NEM) via a new 132 kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting the proposed onsite substation to the existing Wallerawang substation located approximately 1.2 km to the south of the investigation area. The project is State significant development pursuant to Schedule 1 of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Planning Systems) 2021.

Our involvement
EMM has been appointed as the lead consultant to prepare the Scoping Report and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project.

A review of environmental aspects relevant to the project has been carried out to assist in the identification of matters that will require further assessment in the EIS and the level of assessment that should be carried out for each matter cognisant of the recently finalised Large-Scaler Solar Energy Guideline (DPE 2022). Banpu has sought feedback from the local community as part of the planning and development process and the EMM team have led this important component of the project. The team contacted a range of stakeholders including nearby residents, local businesses and service providers, community groups, and government agencies. In addition, our expert facilitators hosted three community information sessions, and provided Banpu with a consolidated summary of community feedback for inclusion in the impact assessment.

Technical solutions
  • Aboriginal Heritage
  • Stakeholder and Community Engagement
  • Soil, Land Resources and Erosion
  • Transport Engineering and Planning
  • Water