RES has secured planning permission for the 185MW Twin Creek wind farm with a 215MW battery storage facility 90km north of Adelaide in South Australia.
Twin Creek will be sited near to the proposed 275kV Project Energy Connect transmission line linking the states of South Australia and New South Wales.
RES said the layout of the site will see the 51 turbines maintain a two-kilometre buffer from the nearest non-associated dwellings to keep noise well below guideline levels.
The layout will also be sensitive to wildlife in the surrounding area, including southern hairy nosed wombats and the pygmy blue-tongued lizard, it added.
“To minimise the impact of the development on their habitats, the number of turbines has been limited and biodiversity offset areas have been identified to improve the outlook for each species,” RES said.
Twin Creek project manager at RES Dan Leahy said: “The team sited and designed Twin Creek wind farm to make best possible use of the very high wind speeds recorded at the exposed, ridgeline site whilst responding to the unique environmental circumstances and concerns of the local community.
“We are proud to say that we have taken every possible action to mitigate the impact of this development on the local wildlife and community.
“Our aim is for Twin Creek to support the area’s biodiversity as well as its people, and the project will bring 160 construction jobs, followed by ongoing employment for eight people.
“The local towns have seen a number of businesses close in recent years, and this project will provide a tremendous economic boost to the area.”
RES said that following development consents for the 200MW Avonlie solar project in New South Wales in August and the 176MW Pallamana solar farm in South Australia in July, the latest approval sees the company surpass 2GW of permitted wind and solar projects in Australia.
In addition, RES’ pipeline of third-party construction services and asset management contracts continues to grow with more than over 750MW under management to date.