Sean Cunningham, Narrandera Argus

Galore is set to get a solar farm which will contain half a million solar panels, but it won’t be coming to fruition anytime soon.

Electricity retail business Flow Power plans to construct the solar farm near Galore, however its Head of Project Development Mark Raymond said the planning is in the early stages.

The company’s representatives recently met with Galore locals to give an update, inform them of the plans and give community members the chance to air their concerns.

“We had our first community event last week at the town hall at Galore to introduce ourselves and give some information about the project to residents and how it could help their community,” Mr Raymond said.

“There were around 25 to 30 people in attendance and we listened to their concerns and their feedback.

“The solar farm is still in the early stages of development and we wouldn’t be starting it until 2027.

“It takes about a year to build and then it’s our intention to be fully operational in 2028.”

Mr Raymond said he had received “really constructive” feedback from residents at the meeting.

“There was lots of interest how the project would work and the visual impacts it would have on neighbouring properties,” he said.

“As most residents there are farmers, they were interested in the impact on storm water management.

“We listened to the concerns and suggestions and will incorporate that into or detailed design studies to specifically meet their requirements.

“It’s also our intention to have a community benefit fund to fund local projects, then to tailor a local-based retail offer to residents.”

The solar farm site would be located two kilometres west of Galore on land measuring about 500 hectares.

“It’s a significant project with about 500,000 panels,” Mr Raymond said.

“There will be 350 megawatts of solar power – that’s the rating of the panels (a house panel might give five kilowatts) and 300 megawatts battery power capacity.”

During construction and once fully operational, the solar farm could bring some benefits for locals, for example, offering employment.

“It’s too early to confirm numbers for jobs,” Mr Raymond said.

“That would be something we would know much further down the track.” 

This article appeared in the  Narrandera Argus, 12 September 2024.