Community Information Booklet Version 2 – September 2020 thunderboltenergyhub.com.au Joanna Murphy, Project Manager [email protected] 1800 966 207 GLOBALLY EUROPE & AFRICA Finland The company is headquartered in Paris, AMERICAS Ireland France, and has two Australian offices – USA France in Sydney and Canberra. Mexico Portugal El Salvador Zambia We operate across renewable energy Jamaica AUSTRALIA Mozambique technologies including solar, wind and Ecuador Australia storage in Europe, Central America, Colombia Africa, the Middle East and Australia. Argentina LOCALLY Neoen Australia began operations in DeGrussa Solar and Storage Project Western Downs 2012. Over the last seven years the Green Power Hub company has initiated the development Dubbo Solar Hub Hornsdale Wind Farms 1, 2, 3 Parkes Solar Farm of more than 1.5GW of solar and wind Hornsdale Power Reserve Griffith Solar Farm projects through organic growth, local Coleambally Solar Farm partnerships and strategic acquisitions. Bulgana Green Power Hub Numurkah Solar Farm Neoen produce green electricity from renewable sources such as sunlight and wind using mature, tried and tested technologies. We are also leaders in energy storage. Page 1 WORLD’S FIRST BIG BATTERY HORNSDALE POWER RESERVE FIRST STAGE TOOK LESS THAN SIX MONTHS TO BUILD • 150MW Lithium-ion battery located next to Hornsdale Wind Farm • Owned and operated by Neoen • Installed and maintained by Tesla • Provides grid stability services • Saved SA energy consumers over $150 million in its first two years • Now testing grid scale inertia services in a world-first REDUCES RISK OF BLACKOUT IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA Page 2 THUNDERBOLT ENERGY HUB OVERVIEW 380MW 120MW 400MW Will create wind farm solar farm battery 600+ jobs during construction Page 3 Page 4 DELIVERING CHEAPER ENERGY FOR INDUSTRY LAVERTON STEELWORKS VICTORIA Laverton Steelworks have agreed to take power from Neoen's 128 MW Numurkah Solar Farm under a 15-year deal. GFG Alliance’s Executive Chairman Sanjeev Gupta said the deal would help lower energy costs at Laverton. DEGRUSSA MINING WESTERN AUSTRALIA DeGrussa is the largest off-grid solar battery storage project in Australia. It powers a gold and copper mine in remote WA. Commissioned in June 2016, it provides a solar and storage solution to the majority of the mine’s daytime electricity requirements, offsetting up to 20% of total diesel consumption annually. NECTAR FARMS VICTORIA Bulgana Green Power Hub, consisting of 196 MW of wind backed by a 20MW battery, is co-located with agri-business Nectar Farms to provide secure and affordable energy. Nectar Farms is using the latest in hydroponic glasshouse and plant technology to create a 10 hectare state of the art facility and over 130 local jobs. Page 5 DELIVERING CHEAPER ENERGY TO RETAILERS ENERGY AUSTRALIA COLEAMBALLY SOLAR FARM Providing energy output of 100 MW of the 150 MW solar farm for 12 years. SIMPLY ENERGY PARKES & GRIFFITH SOLAR FARM Providing 100% of the energy output of the two solar farms for 13 years. Actew AGL HORNSDALE WIND FARM Providing 100% of the energy output of the 309 MW wind farm for 20 years. Page 6 SITE MAP Uralla New England Hwy Existing 330kV line Kentucky Rd Kentucky Macdonald River Noamlimba Ave Existing 330kV line Armidale Uralla Tamworth WWollun Bendemeer Sydney Wollun Rd Bendemeer Station Rd Woolbrook Oxley Hwy Nerstane Rd 2km Page 7 Page 8 PROJECT LIFECYCLE Page 9 $200,000* ANNUALLY in local community benefits Some of the options we are investigating for community benefits: *based on the current project size Community benefit Possibility to invest in the Solar and battery storage fund solar farm for households The funds would be allocated Would you like the opportunity to local community projects to invest some of your money in through a competitive annual this project and make an annual grants process. The fund could be return? administered either by Council or a local organisation Support of local art and Tell us your ideas tourism To submit your ideas, please fill Are there any local arts or tourism out our online survey: ideas that you would like to see or www.surveymonkey.com/r/ support? neoenthunderbolt Page 10 ECONOMIC BENEFITS $1.01 BILLION 600+ JOBS 34-36 MONTHS 20-30 JOBS INFRASTRUCTURE CREATED DURING CONSTRUCTION CREATED DURING INVESTMENT CONSTRUCTION DURATION OPERATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS ABILITY TO PRODUCE APPROXIMATELY 1,167,2000 MWh PER YEAR WHICH IS EQUIVALENT TO: DISPLACING POWERING REMOVING PLANTING 945,400 TONNES 227,200 HOMES 316,760 CARS 9.57 MILLION TREES OF CO2 EMISSIONS FROM THE ROAD Page 11 EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES Engineering, Procurement & Construction Contractor Electrical Civil & Mechanical Substation Electricians Loader Trucks Land manager Electricity installation Excavator Pile Driver Equipment maintenance Electrical Trade Assistants Grader Concreters Administration Roller Pipelayers General Labour Dump Truck General Labour Watercarts Forklift and/or Telehandler SUPPLIER OPPORTUNITIES Goods and services we expect to be procured: Accommodation Material testing Cleaners Mechanical fitter/maintenance Crane (minor lifts) Operation and maintenance facility construction Concreters Quarry products Concrete supply (offsite supply) Septic pump out services Earthworks plant (wet and dry hire) Small equipment hire Fencing and gates Transport (minor) Food and catering service Waste management (liquid and solid) Freight Water (construction and potable) Fuel Welding & engineering fabrication (site services) Anyone interested in working on the project, can register their interest via the ‘work with us’ page on the project website. In the pre-construction period, we will hold a Local Employment and Supplier Networking session. We anticipate that construction could commence in 2023 or 2024. Page 12 COMBINING AGRICULTURE & SOLAR After a successful three-week trial at Parkes Solar Farm in 2018, merino sheep are now being grazed under the panels at all Neoen solar farms (Parkes, Dubbo, Griffith, Coleambally, Numurkah). Neoen are working with agricultural researchers to build and share knowledge about optimising the productivity of sheep grazing under panels. “There are no issues with sheep-grazing co-existing with solar farms. Providing you have the right breed of merino or merino-cross and get stock numbers right, I estimate that you can reach at least 80% of normal stocking rates. Plus, in areas with a lot of sun the panels provide plenty of shade for livestock. It’s an opportunity and a win-win for farmers and renewable energy producers.” – Tom Warren Host Landowner, Dubbo Solar Farm There are numerous other international examples of agriculture being successfully combined with solar. Neoen are investigating a number of different opportunities that could work in Australia. Page 13 ABOUT WIND FARMS Q6. What are the advantages of taller, modern turbines? Economic: Larger turbines generate more and cheaper energy because they can access higher wind speeds at higher elevations. They also generate savings in civil and Q1. How long does it take to build a wind farm? electrical costs (foundations, roads, cables, etc.). The construction timeframe depends on the project size and the number of workers deployed on site. For a Visual: Larger turbines are spaced further apart (up to 500MW power plant, a 24-month timeframe is expected. 1,000m) and have lower rotational speeds than smaller turbines. Q2. What technology does Neoen use to build its wind Noise: Larger turbines don’t necessarily make more farms? noise than smaller turbines, due to their slower speed Neoen’s projects use premium quality wind turbines and improvements in blade design. provided by leading manufacturers. This is selected Environmental: Larger turbines require less concrete, through a competitive process for each project. All roads and cables per unit of energy generated. This components come with long warranty periods – wind reduces carbon emissions, construction traffic, and turbines are generally warrantied for 20 to 25 years. vegetation clearance. Their blades are also above the flight paths of most birds, which greatly reduces the Q3. What is the lifecycle of a wind farm? impact to avifauna. A wind farm will typically operate for between 25 and 30 years. Q7. How do you stop wind turbines impacting the landscape? Q4. How do wind turbines work? We understand that wind turbines do alter the landscape. Wind turbines are designed to convert wind into But we are committed to working with communities to mechanical energy by rotating the turbine blades. ensure our wind farms have the least possible detrimental The mechanical energy is converted into electricity via a impact on visual amenity. generator in the nacelle, which is sent directly to the grid. We encourage individuals and groups with questions The electricity generated by the turbine is proportional to about visual impact and solutions to engage with us the wind speed cubed. For example, a wind turbine in early. 8m/s wind will produce about 8 times as much electricity as a wind turbine in 4m/s wind. This is why it’s important to place turbines in high and consistently windy areas to achieve the lowest cost power generation for consumers. Q5. How tall are the wind turbines? Wind turbines are generally 150 to 270m high (at the highest point). There’s approximately 500 to 1,000m between each turbine, but this varies between projects. Hub heights of turbines may vary between 90 to 160m. Turbines continue to grow in size each year i.e. each new turbine model is larger than its predecessor. Often during permitting, higher hub and tip heights will be requested to accommodate the next generation of machines. Page 14 ABOUT SOLAR FARMS Q13. Will the solar panels generate glare? Improved manufacturing techniques on tier 1 panels include anti-reflective (AR) coatings on solar panels. This increases the amount of energy converted by the panels Q8. How does solar generation work? When photons of light shine on a solar panel they from sunlight. In addition, by minimising reflective losses from (or trapping more light within) solar panels, their knock electrons free on an electrical circuit and performance can be increased while costs are lowered.