No mention of grey nomads as state planning authority gives hybrid wind project the all-clear

Detailed summary

Ground-breaking hybrid wind and battery storage project gets green light from IPC, with all merit appeals now completely blocked after a ministerial intervention.

There was no mention of grey nomads in the latest move to green-light the massive Baldon wind project in southern New South Wales (NSW), in decision so final that all merit appeals against the project are forbidden.

The 1,400 megawatt (MW) wind project with up to 200 MW and 800 megawatt-hours (MWh) of storage now has all planning approvals in hand and, crucially, this cannot be challenged in court.

The project, in the South West renewable energy zone (REZ), was sent into the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) sin bin in September after receiving 73 objections during the normal planning process.

But this time, it went through as a ministerial request for a public meeting, a process that means a decision has to be wrapped up in 10 weeks but all parties lose the right to a merit appeal in the courts afterwards.

Luckily for proponents Goldwind Australia and Omni Wind Farm Pty Ltd, the IPC only imposed four extra conditions and beefed up another.

The little-used power in NSW was first invoked for renewable energy projects in March, when planning minister Paul Scully asked for the Dinawan, Bullawah and “packet of poo tickets” Winterbourne wind projects to be hastened through.

The decision came as absentee landlords and councils launched post-approval merit appeals against other wind projects to slow them down.

But a suit by landowner Marshall Baillieu against the approval of the Valley of the Winds project is still waiting on the judge to publish their decision, and another against the Wallaroo solar farm, although dismissed in March, is also still winding its way through the courts.

The project won grid connection approval in June, which was important as it was not one of the four to win access rights to the South West REZ and the 330 kilovolt Project Energy Connect transmission line.

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