On February 24, the Traf community was invited to engage in consultation surrounding a proposed solar battery project.
German-based solar energy company ib vogt has lodged a planning application with the Department of Transport and Planning to develop a 360MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) on an 18-hectare site in Rowells Rd. It would sit between Trafalgar and Moe.
Representatives from the company were available to speak to locals and answer questions. Locals made their voices heard. Feedback left included that it was the “wrong place” for the batteries and that there would be “no positives” for the community.
There is also concern from the local farming community.
Last year, the Baw Baw Shire Council formally opposed solar and battery projects like this in the shire, citing disruption to farmland.
“Many local farming communities feel blindsided by the sudden appearance of industrial-scale proposals on land that has supported generations of essential food production. People are asking reasonable questions about how these facilities will affect their livelihoods, their safety, and the amenity of their rural communities — but answers have been slow to come, if at all”, said then-Mayor Cr Danny Goss.
Projects like this can bypass local council planning if they are fast-tracked by the state government’s planning minister. That news has left locals feeling like they may have no say in this decision.
Cr Brendan Kingwill and Mayor Kate Wilson attended on February 24 and spoke to locals about their concerns.
The company says it will set up a Community Benefits Fund that would be able to support local projects or community groups and events. A spokesperson from ib vogt said that they were still determining how this would work and where the funding would come from.
ib vogt makes the argument that solar energy, stored by batteries, has been considerably cheaper than coal (five times cheaper) and gas (seventeen times cheaper) in Australia in the last year. This is supported by research conducted by the Clean Energy Council, which says that a faster transition to renewables in Australia will bring down energy bills.
The battery would be connected to the Victorian Transmission Line, which also connects power stations like Hazelwood and Yallourn. Other Battery projects in the Baw Baw Shire are located at Shady Creek and Yarragon North.
In the future, a second project is under consideration, a solar hybrid facility, but that would require an additional application and consultation phase.
