News
4 September, 2026
Wind farm modification ‘very concerning’
A Yass Valley councillor has expressed concern over a State Government decision to approve a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) as part of the Coppabella Wind Farm project.
A Yass Valley councillor has expressed concern over a State Government decision to approve a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) as part of the Coppabella Wind Farm project.
Councillor Alvaro Charry said the decision to modify the approval for the wind farm represented a “significant and very concerning development for the Yass Valley”.
Cr Charry has asked council staff to provide feedback on what the modification will mean for the community and whether the concerns raised by Yass Valley Council and local residents had been adequately addressed.
Those concerns primarily relate to fire risk, insurance, construction traffic, neighbour agreements and the lack of community consultation.
“This is a very sensitive issue and our community deserves clear and timely information,” Cr Cherry said.
He also wants to know if there are any lessons for council when considering the separate proposed Bendenine Wind Farm, which is still in its early stages.
The Coppabella Wind (formerly known as the Yass Valley Wind Farm) is a proposed 289-megawatt, 75-turbine wind farm 35 kilometres west of Yass.
Development Consent for 79 wind turbines no taller than 150 metres was approved in 2016.
A modified application for 75 wind turbines no taller than 171 metres was approved in 2018.
The application to modify consent to include the individual battery units at 71 per cent (or 53) of the approved turbine locations was lodged in November last year.
The wind farm - owned by Goldwind Australia - will extend approximately 12 kilometres west to east and approximately 10 kilometres north to south along the Coppabella Hills near the towns of Bookham and Binalong.
The applicant said inclusion of a BESS would “optimise the wind farm performance” but would not introduce any significant environmental impacts.
It said storage systems were becoming an integral part of renewable energy projects “to reduce intermittency of the supply regime where generation is dependent entirely on the wind or solar resource”.
Goldwind advised council in June last year that it would be looking at including a BESS in the Coppabella development with BESS units co-located on turbine hardstands.
It reportedly announced earlier this week that the modification to include BESS units had been approved by the NSW Department of Planning and network company Transgrid.
Some people used Cr Charry’s Facebook post on the issue to express concern over the environmental damage the project will cause – particularly the loss of ‘thousands’ of trees.
One person suggested it was “like wrecking the environment to save the environment”.
Others said the battery system made sense as it would make the project more viable and useful to the grid.
One person suggested there was no point making energy without storage.
The proposed Bendenine Wind Farm is also expected to include a BESS.
It will be located approximately 15km northwest of Yass between the townships of Binalong and Bowning and is expected to include 88 turbines and associated infrastructure.
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