welcomed that decision<\/a>, but a few months later applied for 15 of the 17 turbines that had been removed by the department to be reinstated, arguing that without them the project was not commercially viable.<\/p>\nThe IPC \u2013 to whom the project was referred because of the number of objections \u2013 found Engie\u2019s argument to be supported by independent research, and resumed its assessment of the project based on a revised 62 turbine proposal. IPC approval followed \u2013 and then the legal challenge.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s objections range from concerns about access roads, land degradation, a lack of social licence, and failures to close deals with landowners who will be affected by the project.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite all of this, Someva managing director Jamie Chivers says the local renewables developer is \u201cproud to have acquired\u201d Hills of Gold and ready to fight to uphold its state approval.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe the proposed Hills of Gold Wind Farm is an important project for the local community and for NSW\u2019s energy transition,\u201d Chivers said on Friday. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a well-situated project with a quality wind resource, has been optimised through years of local collaboration and community engagement.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn immediate focus for Someva will be defending the project against an appeal in the Land and Environment Court challenging the NSW Independent Planning Commission\u2019s approval,\u201d Chivers added. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe the Tamworth Regional Council\u2019s decision to continue this appeal is a questionable use of local ratepayers\u2019 money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chivers says that, court case aside, Someva\u2019s main priority is to continue to meet with the project\u2019s hosts, near neighbours and local stakeholders \u2013 something the company\u2019s executive team has been doing in Nundle and surrounds this week, ahead of the acquisition announcement.<\/p>\n
Engie \u2013 which acquired Hills of Gold from CEP in 2020 \u2013 said on Friday that the ownership transition will allow it to prioritise other projects in its development pipeline, and to deliver its target of more than 3 gigawatts (GW) of installed renewable and storage capacity in Australia by 2030.<\/p>\n
\u201cHills of Gold is a well-situated project with a quality wind resource, which has been optimised through years of community engagement, permitting and approvals, and a comprehensive review\u201d by the IPC, Engie Australia managing director of renewables and batteries, Laura Caspari, said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cEngie is proud of our conduct in community and our perseverance in progressing Hills of Gold Wind Farm to this stage,\u201d Caspari adds, noting that the project has provided almost $100,000 in sponsorship to local events, projects and organisations since 2022.<\/p>\n
Someva also notes that, despite being sent to the IPC due to objection numbers, the Hills of Gold wind farm has also attracted hundreds of submissions in support of the project over its time in the planning pipeline.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the years we\u2019ve seen strong community support for the project, including through hundreds of supportive local submissions during the EIS process,\u201d Someva development director Tim Mead told Renew Economy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn particular, we know there is strong support for the project from the local business community in Nundle and across the region who recognise the economic opportunities the proposed wind farm could bring to the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to thank all those who have stood up in support of the project in the past and we look forward to defending the project against an appeal in the Land and Environment Court over the weeks and months ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Key TakeawaysSomeva Renewables has acquired the Hills of Gold wind farm and 100 MW battery from Engie.The project…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[64,63,75,128],"class_list":["post-121449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}