Click here to view/download the July 2024 RES Media Release

The Amendment Report and Response to Submissions report have now been published on the NSW government planning portal.

You can view the documents here: https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/tallawang-solar-farm

The Amendment Report and Response to Submissions are expected to be submitted to the Department of Planning and Environment in May 2024.

RES has amended the access track to the Temporary Workers’ Accommodation (TWA) facility to avoid ecological communities. The access track was originally proposed along an unnamed Council road to the south of the site. The amended access track is shown by the track dotted in purple here - https://www.tallawang-renewableenergy.com/project-location/

Access to the TWA facility will be via a dedicated access track of approximately 2.25 km long, commencing at the Amended Project’s primary access on the Castlereagh Highway and traversing through the solar farm site. A dedicated emergency access point to the TWA site is proposed via Puggoon Road for emergencies only.  The TWA facility and TWA access road will see an increase in removal of primarily Category 1 - exempt lands.  During the design process, significant refinement of the access road has occurred to ensure any impacts to native vegetation from the TWA facility and access road are minimised. 

The original design considered the formalisation of the road reserve to the south of the Amended Project Area by constructing a paved road to service the TWA facility.  The extensive works required in this area to formalise the road would have resulted in the removal of up to 5.5 ha of the State and Commonwealth listed EEC Inland Grey Box Woodland, and 0.5ha of State and Commonwealth Listed CEEC White Box - Yellow Box - Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland.  To minimise these impacts, the road was shifted to within the Subject Land into areas nominated as Category 1 – exempt land adjacent to the road reserve and located at least 5m from the canopy drip line to further minimise any indirect impacts to this vegetation.

The Amendment Report and Response to Submissions are expected to be submitted to the Department of Planning and Environment in April 2024.

RES attended the Gulgong Show on Saturday 17 February 2024 and we spoke with 40 people about the proposed solar farm.

This year, RES will be submitting an Amendment Report for the proposed Tallawang Solar Farm.

RES has determined that a temporary workers accommodation facility will be required for construction of the proposed 500MW solar farm. If developed, the Project will generate around 380 full time equivalent jobs during construction (with a peak of 420 onsite workers estimated in August 2027), and 10 full time staff during operation and maintenance phases. There is currently not enough accommodation in the region to house a workforce of this size. For this reason, RES is proposing to build temporary worker's accommodation located off Puggoon Road, west of Jacksons Lane.

An Amendment Report, to be submitted to the Department of Planning and Environment in early 2024, will detail the following Project changes:

• Temporary accommodation facility
• Layout optimisations
• Battery capacity increase to a 500MW 2/hr system
• Removal of overhead transmission line

Following information sessions in late 2023, the project team will be attending the 2024 Gulgong Show to meet with community members and seek feedback on the evolving design of the project.  

Temporary Workers Accommodation

RES has determined that a temporary workers accommodation facility will be required for Project construction. The Project will generate around 380 full time equivalent jobs during construction (with a peak of 420 onsite workers estimated in August 2027), and 10 full time staff during operation and maintenance phases. There is currently not enough accommodation in the region to house a workforce of this size. For this reason, RES is proposing to build temporary worker's accommodation located off Puggoon Road, west of Jacksons Lane.

RES has chosen to include the Project changes as part of the State Significant Development assessment process associated with the Tallawang Solar Farm. As such, the design and potential impacts of the temporary accommodation; solar layout design changes, including increasing the battery to 500MW 2 hour system; and removal of the overhead transmission line as part of the Project, will be detailed in the Amendment Report to be submitted to the Department of Planning and Environment in February 2024.

RES held project drop-in information sessions in Gulgong to discuss these changes to the Tallawang Solar Farm on the 15th and 16th of November.

Click on the following links to view the information presented at these sessions:

Project update l Site layout with constraints l Photomontage campsite l Proposed workers camp

The Development Application for Tallawang Solar Farm was submitted to DPE in Q2, 2022 and was advertised in November 2022 for 28 days.  Further details can be seen on their website here: https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/tallawang-solar-farm 

The application will now be determined by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC).

RES is currently preparing the Response to Submissions, which will include some amendments to the project in response to the submissions raised.  

RES will consult with the community about any amendments and will hold community information sessions before the amendment is lodged.

As the Tallawang Solar Farm passes through the Independent Planning Commission process, RES project teams will be holding several community information sessions in February to provide updated information about both the Tallawang Solar Farm and Barneys Reef Wind Farm, and to advise on next steps in the development process for both projects. 

Interested community members are invited to drop in to our information booths at the Dunedoo and Gulgong Agricultural Shows in early February.

In the second half of 2022, RES will be submitting a development application to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment for the Tallawang Solar Farm. 

Socially responsible projects will be key to the success of the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone. We thank all who have provided feedback about the project and helped to shape a project which we hope will serve the community and support the future of the Central West.  

Click here to read the latest project update for the proposed Tallawang Solar and Barneys Reef Wind Farms. 

Thank you to all who were able to attend our online and in-person information sessions held throughout February for the Barneys Reef Wind and Tallawang Solar Projects.  Valuable feedback gathered from these sessions from over one-hundred community members, combined with feedback received throughout 2021, will influence the final design of our projects and shape the way we plan to deliver benefits locally, meaningfully and fairly through our renewable projects. 

Click here to watch a recording of our online information session, held 23 February 2022

RES project teams are excited to be attending the Gulgong and Dunedoo Agricultural Shows in February to provide updates about the proposed Barneys Reef Wind Farm and Tallawang Solar Farm. 

Technical and social assessments have taken place throughout 2021, and this year RES will be making submitting an EIS for both projects. 

Local feedback has been a crucial part of the design of both projects, and ongoing engagement is sought to ensure that the projects capture and consider a range of views, values and perspectives within the community - now and into the future. 

Click here to read the February 2022 Project Update

Online community information sessions were held on Thursday 9 and Friday 10 September 2021. Key project team members were in attendance to present the Tallawang Solar Farm and Barney's Reef Wind farm projects and answer questions. RES would like to thank all the members of the community who attended.

Both projects are subject to an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) as part of the NSW planning policy for state significant developments, which are currently being prepared. We are seeking your feedback and participation into this process over the coming months.  

Click on the links to download the Project Presentation shared at each session as well as a summary of the sessions, including the questions and answers raised are available. 

The second Tallawang Solar Farm and Barneys Reef Wind Farm information sheet has been released. Further information on layout, boundaries and more is available in the information sheet. 

Both projects have now completed the scoping phase, with each project lodging a Scoping Report and application for SEARs to the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) in July 2021.

Click here to download the August 2021 information sheet.

The March 2021 Tallawang Solar Farm and Barneys Reef Wind Farm information sheet has been released. It includes information about RES and the two projects. Click here to download the information sheet.

RES is currently assessing the feasibility of both Tallawang Solar Farm and Barneys Reef Wind Farm, and is undertaking some preliminary environmental studies. As part of this, RES is seeking feedback on the Projects from key stakeholders and local community members. Please get in contact if you would like to receive further information on both or either of the projects and/or would like to make a time to meet with members of the respective project teams.