Community meeting for Trafalgar BESS
A proposal to develop a battery storage facility at Trafalgar East will be the focus of a community information session at Trafalgar next week.
German based 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.
ib vogt will host a session to give community members an opportunity to gain more information from company representatives.
The planning application, lodged on December 19, seeks permission for a battery storage system, electrical substation and associated infrastructure.
A second stage, including a solar hybrid facility may be developed but will have a separate consultation and approvals process.
On its community newsletter, the company stated "the site was identified due to its closeness to the existing transmission line, the large sections of level land and heavily modified pasture."
The newsletter stated the development would maintain a good separation distance of about one kilometre to neighbours; have minimal visual or environmental impact because of its location on previously disturbed land; and its location on a dead end road with low traffic.
"The BESS is being established to support the electricity grid and provide more on-demand dispatchable energy as the nearby coal fired generators reach end of life, and renewable energy sources take their place," the information sheet stated.
The project will make an annual financial payment to a community benefit fund. ib vogt is working with a number of community groups to identify new initiatives that it may be able to support that would provide long-term benefits to the community and seeking community ideas.
When the project was announced in November last year, ib vogt senior development manager Terry Daly told The Gazette the company was aware BESS developments were "a fairly controversial topic" in West Gippsland and there were concerns about the impact on agricultural land.
"We appreciate there are concerns about something that is so new. We need to do a comprehensive analysis of all the risks," he said.
The planning permit application is currently in preliminary stages of assessment by DTP and will be referred to Baw Baw Shire Council and the CFA for comment.
Public notice of the project is expected to be posted next month with the DTP expected to make a decision on the project in June.
The community information session will be held at the Trafalgar Public Hall from 4pm to 7pm. Community members can attend at any time to meet with ib vogt team members.
