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State Significant Development

Determination

Wellington South Battery Energy Storage System

Dubbo Regional

Current Status: Determination

Interact with the stages for their names

  1. SEARs
  2. Prepare EIS
  3. Exhibition
  4. Collate Submissions
  5. Response to Submissions
  6. Assessment
  7. Recommendation
  8. Determination

Development of a 500 MW / 1000MWh battery energy storage facility with associated infrastructure.

Attachments & Resources

Request for SEARs (1)

SEARs (1)

EIS (16)

Response to Submissions (5)

Agency Advice (9)

Additional Information (9)

Determination (3)

Approved Documents

There are no post approval documents available

Note: Only documents approved by the Department after November 2019 will be published above. Any documents approved before this time can be viewed on the Applicant's website.

Complaints

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Enforcements

There are no enforcements for this project.

Inspections

There are no inspections for this project.

Note: Only enforcements and inspections undertaken by the Department from March 2020 will be shown above.

Submissions

Filters
Showing 1 - 4 of 4 submissions
Name Withheld
Object
Lake Albert , New South Wales
Message
I object to this Battery Energy Storage System because it is a part of the fake green RenewaBULL Energy Transition - that is the most scandalous, idiotic rip-off of Australian people that I have every seen in 6 decades!

Filthy Lithium Batteries that are an extremely hazardous, toxic fire/smoke risk do not belong anywhere near Wellington because the batteries spew out extremely dangerous fumes when they burn for days!

Coal, Gas & Uranium are far superior, plentiful, natural, Australian energy resources that provide real power. Instead, this stupidly inefficient lump of filthy, unhealthy, contaminating toxic lithium BESS will be constructed using slave labour components.
Dubbo has a duty to ensure they are not hosting a BESS in their Council area which includes any Slave Labour mining/production components.

BESS will be pretty well useless in providing firming power as it's an incapable part of the BLACKOUTS, BANKRUPTCY & BULL perpetuated by the scandalously flawed NSW RenewaBULL imaginary power plan that will make us suffer energy poverty - with some people unconscionably dying of despair & hyperthermia
Dubbo Regional Council
Comment
Dubbo , New South Wales
Message
Attachments
Carl Palmer
Comment
MONTEFIORES , New South Wales
Message
Our heritage home is in very close proximity to the proposed development.
It has been identified in the environmental impact statement as a dwelling which will be affected visually and audibly.
The site chosen is in direct view, clearly seen through the bedroom windows on the eastern side of the house and particularly through the window of the master bedroom. Only a valley exists between the site and the house and the distance would be approximately 800m.
VISUAL IMPACT
Up until about 5 years ago scenery surrounding our property USED to be beautiful. Rolling countryside with natural textures and colours. Looking now towards the North West and then North and then to the North East, it looks like an industrial area! Despite all promises of screening and minimal visual impact, solar panels are now the dominant feature.
Daytime visual impact from the BESS site will be most apparent and it will most likely take a decade before any screening trees will lessen this. Night-time security lighting will shine directly in our bedroom windows.

AUDIBLE IMPACT
It is understood that cooling systems will be incorporated into the BESS project, to ensure that the inverters and storage batteries are kept within safe limits. It is noted that the noise produced by these coolers will be heard at our house unless it is absorbed or directed away. This noise will be most prominant at night, during times of peak electrical demand when the inverters are woking hard and when the wind is blowing from the East. The "nature" of the noise has not been clearly defined - is it a "hum", a "rumble" or a "humble"? Household members are highly sensitive to on-going noise and the impact of such noise during the night leading to sleep deprivation.

RADIO INTERFERENCE
The Electro Magnetic Radiation produced by inverters is well documented. This EMR extends into the HF, VHF and UHF radio spectrum. The impact of this is to produce radio interference which is significant in the surrounding areas.
As a licenced radio operator (VK2TP) I am already impacted by the inverters installed as part of the existing Solar Farm installation.
I have needed to construct and use highly directional yagi antennas and arrays in an attempt to null the broadband interference when communicating with other stations. It is impossible to communcate with stations in the direction of the current inverters. Despite assurances from other project developers, my concerns about interference were apparently ignored. More inverters in new locations and different directions will only make this harder unless more effective shielding and filtering of the inverters is planned and implemented. I have demonstrated the effects of this interference to BESS project leadership and asked for data but am yet to receive documentation.
For reference, my radio experiments extend over a range of frequency bands but predominantly 144MHz, 432MHz, and 1296MHz with propagation aided by Tropospheric reflections, Aircraft enhancement, Moonbounce, and Meteor scatter.

PROPERTY VALUE
A beautiful property in a rural location was purchased, a bit of a dream! The image has certainly faded with the encroachment of silicon panels, security fences and huge metal structures, masses of security lights, increased traffic and noise. Has this affected property values, acccording to a local real estate agent, it has! Time will tell!

SUMMARY
I will continue to debate whether I should tick the "I object to the project" box OR tick the "I'm providing comments" box. I am certainly hopeful that the comments will be considered and perhaps the issues of Visability, Audible noise and Radio Interference may bring a more satisfactory outcome to local residents.
Name Withheld
Support
WALCHA , New South Wales
Message
I fully support the Wellington South Battery Development. The project is significant in providing critical grid support services.

Pagination

Project Details

Application Number
SSD-27014706
Assessment Type
State Significant Development
Development Type
Electricity Generation - Other
Local Government Areas
Dubbo Regional
Decision
Approved
Determination Date
Decider
Director

Contact Planner

Name
Jai Reid