Planning and Environment
Current approvals
The Rye Park Wind Farm received planning and environmental approvals in 2017. Links to key assessment and approval documents are provided below:
- The Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Rye Park Wind Farm was lodged with the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) in March 2014. A copy of the EA can be found here.
- Since acquiring the project in 2014, Tilt Renewables undertook extensive additional site investigations and stakeholder consultation. As a result, a number of refinements were made to the site layout including a reduction in the number of turbines from 126 to 109 and adjustments to the locations of turbines, access tracks, powerlines and associated infrastructure. A Response to Submissions report was lodged with DPE which was placed on public exhibition from 18 May 2016 to 23 June 2016. A copy of the report can be downloaded here.
- The Project received planning approval for up to 92 turbines from the former NSW Planning Assessment Commission (PAC) in May 2017. A copy of the final approval and conditions can be downloaded here.
- The Project also received approval under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) issued by the Department of the Environment and Energy in December 2017 (reference EPBC 2014/7163), and can be downloaded here.
During construction and operation of the wind farm there will be a number of activities required to comply with the PAC and EPBC Act approvals. These will include environmental compliance such as bird and bat monitoring, noise compliance monitoring and visual assessments to ensure compliance with the development consent requirements.
Modification to the Rye Park Wind Farm development consent
Tilt Renewables is proposing to modify some aspects of the approved Rye Park Wind Farm project.
Since the project was approved, there have been significant advancements in wind turbine technology. New, more efficient turbines are now available. Using the latest turbines at Rye Park Wind Farm would allow the project to generate more electricity from fewer turbines, powering more homes with clean energy.
Recent technical studies, detailed design and construction planning has also given us a clearer picture of how the Rye Park Wind Farm could look and operate.
This new information has identified some changes that would allow the wind farm to be built and operated more efficiently, make best use of the latest wind turbines on the market and address design challenges.
The proposed modification includes:
- reducing the number of turbines from 92 to 80;
- increasing tip height from 157m to 200m;
- removing one substation and one operation and maintenance facility; and
- identifying a preferred construction truck route.
The modification is also expected to result in changes to:
- length and width of access tracks (on wind farm site);
- length of underground cabling (on wind farm site);
- length of overhead power lines (on wind farm site);
- area of site disturbance (on wind farm site and off site due to road upgrades); and
- native vegetation removal (on wind farm site and off site due to road upgrades).
Detailed design and environmental studies are underway to understand the extent of these changes and any potential impacts.
The modification will not seek to change other operational requirements in the development consent, including those for noise, air emissions and shadow flicker.
We expect to apply for a modification to the existing Rye Park Wind Farm development consent in the first half of 2020.
See the Project overview and proposed modification fact sheet for further information.
EPBC approval
Re-referral of the project’s approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) may be needed to support the modification.