A new five-megawatt solar farm is being proposed on a 16-hectare parcel of farmland in Gormandale.
The solar farm is being developed by BNRG Leeson, a joint venture between an Irish solar company and an Australian renewables developer.
The project will include a 10 megawatt-hour battery and will plug into existing powerlines across the Highland Highway.
A company spokeswoman said they had been looking for a flat site without large amounts of vegetation that needed to be cleared, that was also close to existing powerlines.
“This project brings renewable energy to the area, as well as providing energy security and stabilisation when existing generation methods fail,” the spokeswoman said.
“Over the next few years we are looking to develop other similar sized projects to this one. Some of these are in planning now.”
The spokeswoman said the Gormandale project would provide between 25 and 50 construction jobs, with two-to-four ongoing technical jobs and up to 10 horticultural and cleaning contractors.
She said they were aiming to start the four-month construction process in the middle of next year, pending planning approvals.
“We are aiming to submit the planning application at the end of the month,” she said.
“We operate using best practises and aim to speak to the community prior to planning to alleviate any concerns, hence the community engagement session, door knocking and letter drops.”
The company held a community session in Gormandale earlier this month to let locals learn more about the project.
“We had a really positive engagement session last week where most community members were excited about the project and interested to know what technologies are being used,” the spokeswoman said.
“One community member was concerned about the visual look of the solar farm however it will be screened by trees and have an antiglare film on the panels to prevent glare.”
