Meralli Solar’s homegrown Thunderbolt Community Solar precinct reached another milestone last week with the Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel (NJRPP) completing its review. The NJRPP has approved the project subject to some expected and necessary conditions.
In the previous edition of Wordsworth, Councillor Robert Bell noted that he’d had the privilege of sitting on the Northern Regional Planning Panel as it considered the application for the $11million 5MW Solar Farm on the old ‘Pole Plant’ site.
Should this project proceed, it will be another great indication of Uralla’s role as a Renewable Energy Hub.”
Cr Robert Bell.
The Thunderbolt project incorporates sub-frame technology known as the Jurchen Technology PEG. Developed in Germany, the benefit of the PEG system allows the site to hold twice the capacity of traditional systems, using less steel, concrete and heavy equipment, which reduces environmental and visual impact both during the build and over the life of the plant.
The next step is to complete the network connection studies and progress to a network connection agreement with Essential Energy.
“It’s great to tick another milestone off in this project and great to be on track,” said David Mailler, Director, Meralli Solar.
“We’re looking forward to getting to the next stage where we can start to talk about strategic regional investment, and it is important to be part of the inevitable transition to a renewable economy, that will bring more jobs and economic stability to the Uralla shire”.
The Meralli Team also completed part of the planned greening of the site recently with 1400 new trees planted (see video below). Eventually, the site will be ringed by native plantings to enhance the landscape and provide habitat and contribute to the site’s biodiversity.
