Williamson and Kelly cited strong local opposition and \u201cmatters of significant public interest and material deficiencies in the evidentiary basis relied upon to support approval.\u201d Bleijie says he has also received an astonishing 733 public submissions about the project since it was first proposed for further scrutiny in early January. <\/p>\n
But less than a week after Bleijie agreed to put the project back under the planning microscope \u2013 \u201cto undertake a comprehensive and balanced assessment\u201d \u2013 reports have emerged that Trina has decided to shelve the plans.<\/p>\n
Trina Solar on Tuesday confirmed with Renew Economy that it has \u201cscrapped\u201d its development application for the Pleystowe BESS but is not walking away from the project entirely and will continue working with the community.<\/p>\n
As Renew Economy has reported, the project hit a wall at the local government level, when \u2013 after being recommended for approval by council planning staff \u2013 it was left in limbo at the end of last year when a meeting of the council failed to make a decision either way on the project.<\/p>\n
Once council fails to issue a decision notice for the application within the statutory decision making period or at all under the Planning Act, that application is referred to the Planning and Environment Court. Bleijie\u2019s intervention, however, takes the application process back to square one.<\/p>\n
In this case, it might well serve Trina Solar better to scrap the current development application and start over. Given the huge number of public submissions, it may also be that the company needs to go back to the drawing board \u2013 and to the community \u2013\u00a0on this project. <\/p>\n
In an emailed statement, a Trina Solar spokesperson said the company would \u201cuse this opportunity to further review planning requirements, including compliance with State Code 27, and to continue developing the proposed Community Benefit Agreement with stakeholders.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrina Solar remains committed to delivering renewable energy infrastructure that aligns with state policy and provides tangible community benefits,\u201d a company spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
But the pattern emerging on the state planning department\u2019s renewables-dominated list of Ministerial Call-Ins<\/a> suggests something else is at play.<\/p>\n Anthony Gough, the acting director of the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC), says the repeal of the state\u2019s renewable energy target and the former Labor government\u2019s Energy Roadmap has set an atmosphere of uncertainty for industry and investors. <\/p>\n \u201cWe welcome the development of a State Code for batteries, as something we had been calling for,\u201d Gough said in an emailed statement on Tuesday<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not appropriate for councils to have to deal with new types of large infrastructure under existing regional plans, and consistency across the state is important,\u201d said Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) acting director, Anthony Gough, in a statement on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, Gough adds, \u201cit is inconsistent that the LNP is approving and actively championing many other sorts of developments, from new gas and coal exploration leases, to contentious ecotourism projects and Olympic venues, over the top of community and environmental concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cHuge swathes of Queensland are currently on yet another flood watch or clean up. This extreme weather is becoming more extreme due to climate change,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThe LNP have committed to reducing emissions by 75 per cent by 2035, but seem to be putting roadblocks into the only proven emissions reduction \u2013renewable energy \u2013 that is working in Queensland.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Trina\u2019s Pleystowe BESS was the second big battery project in the Queensland planning pipeline to get a formal call-in notice, following the early March call-in of Potentia Energy\u2019s 300 MW, four-hour Capricorn BESS in Bouldercombe, in Queensland\u2019s Rockhampton region.<\/p>\n That project was\u00a0sent to Jarrod Bleijie\u2019s Ministerial call-in list<\/a>\u00a0in January at the request of Rockhampton deputy mayor Drew Wickerson, again with the backing of the local LNP member, Kelly.<\/p>\n Another project, Iberdrola Australia\u2019s\u00a0Bundaberg Regional Battery<\/a>, formerly known as the Gin Gin Battery project, is awaiting a decision on whether it, too, will undergo a full ministerial reassessment, after hitting similar troubles with the Rockhampton Regional Council.<\/p>\n Last year, the Queensland LNP government cancelled\u00a0two already-approved wind farms \u2013 the $1 billion Moonlight Range project<\/a>\u00a0and the 1.2GW Forest Wind project \u2013 under the retrospective application of strict new planning rules for solar, wind and battery projects introduced at the start of 2025.<\/p>\n Also on Bleijie\u2019s proposed call-in list are two wind and battery projects owned by Cubico Investments \u2013\u00a0the Middle Creek and Marmadua energy parks\u00a0<\/a>\u2013 which are both still awaiting a decision.<\/p>\n
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