One of the Hunter's largest renewable energy projects, the $300 million Muswellbrook Solar Farm and Battery, is expected to be operating in 2028.
Located on one of Australia's oldest coal mining sites, the 135-megawatt project will power up to 52,310 homes and create up to 200 jobs during construction.
Clean energy developer OX2 will contribute about $115,000 every year to a Community Benefit Sharing Program, as outlined in a voluntary planning agreement with Muswellbrook Shire Council.
"Today's sod turning marks the beginning of construction on a project that demonstrates how Australia's energy transformation can deliver lasting benefits for regional communities," OX2 Australia vice president Stephen Symons said.
"By repurposing a former coal mine site into a renewables hub, we're investing in infrastructure that will provide reliable energy, create local jobs, strengthen regional supply chains and support the Hunter's future prosperity."
The Muswellbrook Solar Farm and Battery is OX2's first owner-operated project since entering the Australian market in 2022.
Idemitsu Australia co-developed the project with OX2 and remains a long-term landholder of the project site.
OX2 has appointed an engineering, procurement and construction joint venture between Bouygues Construction Australia and Equans Solar and Storage Australia (BYESSA) to deliver the project.
The project has also secured a long-term hybrid power purchase agreement with an international offtaker, covering both solar generation and battery energy storage.
AGL and Idemitsu are investigating the feasibility of a pumped hydro project that would provide eight hours of energy storage.
The 400-megawatt project would have four times the storage duration and five times the asset life of most current battery storage systems.
Water would be pumped 2000 metres to the top of Bells Mountain where it would be stored in a 1.9 gigalitre reservoir that would be created on the top of the mountain. It would flow using gravity through pipes to drive a turbine at the base of the mountain.
The project, which received critical state significant infrastructure status last year, will come online in 2029 if all approvals and investment decisions are made on target.
