Australia’s largest solar farm has been given the go ahead, with ACT Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Simon Corbell approving the proposed Royalla solar farm on Tuesday morning.
The 20 megawatt farm will be built on about 50 hectares of land adjacent to the Monaro Highway in Tuggeranong, bounded to the west by the Rob Roy Nature Reserve.
Mr Corbell said it “will deliver a substantial public benefit”.
“The solar farm proposal will contribute to a reduction of around 560,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over 20 years, generating the equivalent amount of energy to power 4,400 Canberra homes,” he said.
“The Royalla solar farm will directly contribute to meeting the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets set by the ACT Government under the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act 2010, and is consistent with the comprehensive climate change strategy we released last year.”
A number of concerns had been raised about the solar farm in the notification and consultation process, and Mr Corbell put conditions on his approval, which he granted using his powers under the Planning and Development Act 2007.
“These conditions include a requirement for the proposal to meet all environmental approvals, including implementation of an environmental management agreement, waterway works licence, contamination assessment, environment protection agreement, land management agreement and pollution control plans.
“I have also closely considered the concerns of adjacent neighbours in the Royalla rural residential area. An independent visual impact assessment has been conducted which confirms the visual impact of the proposal will be negligible for most houses in the Royalla area.
“The solar farm will have a low to moderate visual impact for a very small number of houses. Additional plantings to partly screen the development will be put in place to mitigate this,” he said.
Mr Corbell said he had also considered requirements of the Territory Plan and the advice of entities such as the Conservator of Flora and Fauna, the Environment Protection Authority, the ACT Heritage Council, and ActewAGL in granting the approval.
