MINISTER for Planning, Richard Wynne has announced that the government has approved the Congupna solar farm proposal, which will produce 30 megawatts of clean energy, enough to power 10,000 homes, and create around 110 jobs.
The project will be built on non-irrigated agricultural land and drive around $38M in capital expenditure.
A decision on the Tallygaroopna, Lemnos and Tatura east solar farm applications has been deferred until further strategic work is completed for the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District.
Minister Wynne also released the draft Solar Energy Facilities – Design and Development Guidelines for comment.
The draft guidelines will help inform councils, developers and communities on planning requirements for the large solar farm facilities to ensure they are built in the right locations, are easily accessible to the grid and that proposals give careful consideration to high productivity agricultural areas and sensitive landscapes.
The Solar Energy Facilities – Design and Development Guidelines are open for public comment until January 30, 2019 at www.planning.vic.gov.au/policy-and-strategy/solar-energy-facilities-design-and-development-draft-guidelines.
