Indigenous-led renewable energy company Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation’s (YEC) 150MW solar PV farm is the first project approved via Western Australia’s ‘Green Energy Approvals Initiative’.
YEC received environmental approval for the solar farm on Saturday (15 June). It is the first of a three-project portfolio totalling 3GW of clean energy with the solar farm to be located within a 13,000-square-kilometre area in the Pilbara covered by the Yindjibarndi Native Title Determination Area.
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According to YEC’s project plans, the Jinbi project also has the option to develop a co-located battery energy storage system (BESS).
Climate action minister Reece Whitby stated that he wanted to see Western Australia become a “renewable energy powerhouse” with the Green Energy Approvals Initiative set to ensure the correct market incentives are available in the State to achieve this goal.
“I want to see Western Australia become a renewable energy powerhouse, so it is critical we cut red tape and get clean energy projects online without unnecessary delays,” Whitby said.
“With the potential to decarbonise our State’s energy systems, create On Country jobs for Aboriginal Australians, and support renewable energy uptake by industry in the Pilbara, I look forward to seeing Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation’s proposals come to fruition.”
State government’s Green Energy Approvals Initiative bears fruit
Led by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation’s green energy directorate, the State government has collaborated with multiple agencies to establish the most efficient approvals pathway for this proposal and numerous renewable energy projects being pursued in Western Australia.
According to the Western Australian government’s website, the initiative is a “cross-government collaboration to deliver faster environmental approvals for renewable energy projects without compromising the unique environmental biodiversity of Western Australia”.
Now fully operational, the initiative is driving investment in wind and solar power generation, renewable hydrogen industries, lithium mining, and critical minerals processing, as well as the manufacturing of batteries, electrolysers, solar panels and wind turbines.
