Spanish renewables developer X-ELIO has set its sights on the North Burnett, proposing to clear over 1200 hectares of endangered animal habitat and farmland for a solar park near Wuruma Dam.
The North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub is the latest green energy project proposed by X-ELIO, with plans for the 2216-hectare venture made public on the Australian Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act public portal on 14 January.
The project site will be at 2864 Barram Road in the locality of Wuruma Dam, a privately-owned property called ’Barram’ featuring agricultural land used for cattle grazing.
The property is located in the north-western North Burnett, inland about halfway between Eidsvold and Monto, and can be accessed by a series of unsealed roads.
The Coominglah, Hefferon and Yule State Forests are each within 15 kilometres of the site, as are the Wuruma Dam reservoir and the Nogo River; a number of watercourses flow through the property, creating a riparian corridor on its north-western edge.
X-ELIO proposes to build solar panels, transformers, a battery energy storage system, a substation and an office block on the property. The developer hopes the site will produce up to 720 megawatts of power and be able to store up to four hours of output.
The company’s animal and vegetation surveys of the site showed “small areas“ of native vegetation were being used by the endangered koala and greater glider as habitat and foraging grounds, with a further 65 other animal species also calling the property home.
To construct its solar farm, X-ELIO will clear 1218.28 hectares of land, including over 270 hectares of native trees and vegetation.
The clearing will result in the loss of 270 hectares of koala foraging habitat and 947 hectares of ’dispersal’ habitat, and will also remove nearly 190 hectares of greater glider denning- and foraging space.
X-ELIO’s plans showed the proposal had the potential to “significantly impact“ local koala populations, which surveyors only indirectly determined to be present after they found scratch marks and scat.
Koala deaths could be caused by tree clearing and vehicle strikes, the company stated. Any surviving animals are expected to be disturbed by construction noise and spotlights.
The project’s impact on greater gliders, meanwhile, was determined to be “unlikely to [be] significant.“
During planning X-ELIO had to reduce the area of the project site by 31 per cent to allow for wildlife corridors, which the company hopes will mitigate some of the impacts on local wildlife.
The Spanish renewables developer also identified a number of other potential issues with their project.
“The Project has the potential to increase sedimentation in Nogo River and Trevethan Creek (and minor ephemeral tributaries across the Project Area),“ the company’s survey documents stated.
“Exposed areas of soil will be prone to erosion if not protected.“
To mitigate the erosion risk, X-ELIO put in a 100-metre buffer zone between the solar farm site and nearby watercourses.
During construction, work vehicles are expected to worsen the conditions of the unsealed Barram and Lower Monto Boundary Roads.
“Ongoing use of unsealed roads and tracks may exacerbate potholes and corrugations which could capture sedimentation that will run off into drainage lines in wet weather,“ the company stated.
Should they be successful in their application to build the North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub, X-ELIO expect construction to start on 1 January 2027. The development is set to have a lifespan of 30 years, after which most of the energy infrastructure above ground will be removed, and the land returned to its previous state as a grazing property.
Community engagement on the project – including letterbox drops to residents within five kilometres of the site – is set to begin in early 2025.
The public has until 29 January to lodge submissions on the North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub project.
To do so, visit: epbcpublicportal.environment.gov.au/all-notices/project-decision/?id=62143674-28d2-ef11-8eea-000d3a6a1778
