Willavale Park

X-ELIO is committed to providing the local community meaningful opportunities to benefit from the projects.

We are working with Goulburn Mulwaree Council and other relevant local organisations to understand how we can support local businesses, groups, and nearby communities during the construction and operations of the two projects.

As we develop these Projects, we welcome your suggestions.

Guiding our planning is X-ELIO’s Community Plans, which outline four community pillars:

• Education – actions that cover education development at all levels.
• Environment – actions that focus on the preservation and improvement of the ecosystem.
• Health – actions to achieve an eco-friendly life in the community.
• Communities – actions that target a healthy lifestyle and humanitarian aid.

Each project’s construction phase typically takes between 12 and 18 months and each site is expected to need 200 to 300 people during construction, with peak activity occurring about halfway through construction.

Construction requires a variety of roles such as civil contractors, tradespeople and electricians.

Once operational, each project will be largely run by four to five people based onsite.

Whenever possible, the project teams are committed to employing local workers.

We are also looking for opportunities to collaborate with local training providers to upskill the local workforce to enhance relevant industry qualifications.

X-ELIO has an existing procurement team in Australia, and the construction team is expanding.

The procurement process will likely begin seven to eight months before construction starts. Local businesses can indicate their interest in being involved in the project/s via the project email addresses;

• canyonleigh.community@X-ELIO.com
• willavale.community@X-ELIO.com

Battery energy storage systems collect excess energy from different sources and store it until it is needed to meet additional demand when it is released into the grid.

Storing energy provides greater flexibility and reliability in power generation by helping to match the generation of renewable energy with energy consumption.

This helps to stabilise the grid by managing peaks in supply and demand and can provide backup power in case of an outage.

Willavale and Canyonleigh batteries will absorb energy directly from the national grid during times of low demand (i.e., in the middle of the day or night) and store the excess electricity. During periods of higher power demand (such as in the evenings), the battery will feed electricity back into the grid.

Canyonleigh BESS and Willavale Park BESS are similar but distinct projects being developed in the same region and will operate independently. There may be some coordination between them and some community engagement activities that cover both projects, but the operations will run separately.

No, the entire site area will not be used. The specific area required for each project will be determined during the detailed design and planning process. This process will consider project structures, technical requirements, and various site limitations, such as vegetation impacts, buffer zones for fire safety, and measures to mitigate noise and visual impacts to create setbacks that are not going to be disturbed.

As State Significant Developments, the projects are subject to rigorous approval processes under NSW planning laws.

X-ELIO submitted a Scoping Report to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) in late 2024, which included the results of site investigations, early consultations and initial studies in the area.

DPHI issued the Secretary’s Environmental Assessment Requirements (SEARs) for the Project on 12 December 2024. These specify what issues are required to be addressed in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which is the current stage of the review process.

The EIS assesses the potential environmental, cultural heritage, community, social and economic impacts of the project during the construction, long-term operation, and decommissioning phases.

X-ELIO is using the SEARs to guide it through the EIS process to better understand any impacts the Project may have on the surrounding areas. As we do this, we’ll continue to communicate with landowners, adjacent communities and other stakeholders.

• Traffic and transport
• Noise during construction and operations
• Biodiversity
• Visual & landscape impacts
• Indigenous and historic heritage
• Electromagnetic interference (EMI)
• Bushfire prevention and management
• Waste management
• Socio-economic factors
• Water use and management

Assessment and management of bushfire risk during construction and operation is integral to the project design.

Management measures implemented will be consistent with requirements of the NSW Government and the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) Planning for Bush Fire Protection guidelines.

X-ELIO is committed to working with the Goulburn Mulwaree Rural Fire District to understand site-specific requirements and firefighting access.

Appropriate site-specific mitigation measures such as Asset Protection Zones, adequate water supply and perimeter roads will be incorporated into the project design and agreed upon with the Rural Fire District prior to construction.

During operations, BESS can generate low level noise from the cooling system and the inverters, which are located between the batteries and convert the energy into electricity.

As part of the EIS, we will undertake a noise impact assessment to model the predicted noise levels both during construction, and when the BESS is operational. The assessment will be based on the specific construction and operational equipment to be used across both stages.

If required, project designs will consider mitigation measures such as the installation of noise barriers or control the cooling system fans speed.

Operational noise impacts will be assessed in line with the NSW Environment Protection Authority’s (EPA’s) NSW Noise Policy for Industry.

As part of the EIS, we will undertake a noise impact assessment to model the predicted noise levels during construction. The assessment will be based on the specific construction methods and equipment used.

If required, we will use construction mitigation measures, such as installing temporary noise barriers.

The Department will also stipulate acceptable noise levels if it approves the Project.

This will be determined when more details are known about the project’s construction, design, transmission connections, and the specific equipment to be used on site.

During construction, the Project will use water misters to wet the site to minimise the spread of dust and sediment and erosion control barriers.

A landscape and visual impact assessment will be undertaken during the development of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), the current stage of the planning process, to identify any visual amenity impacts from the projects’ construction and develop strategies for managing or mitigating these.

Once this has been undertaken, we will talk with nearby residents to understand the specific needs of neighbours based on visual impacts for nearby occupied dwellings so that appropriate mitigation measures can be determined and incorporated into the project design.

Site access will be considered as part of project planning, which will also consider the scale of the construction works and the timings of construction vehicle movements.

Prior to the construction phase, using traffic modelling we will work closely with Council and regulators to manage potential impacts to local roads associated with the project.

During construction phase, X-ELIO will work closely with Council to minimise potential impacts to local traffic.

Additionally, we will provide community with notification before any activities that may cause traffic impacts, before any access changes, or if we think there might be delays to travel times caused by construction works. Traffic management plan will also support this.

The standard operation lifecycle for similar large-scale energy projects is 20-30 years, however, it is driven primarily by use cycles. This will be kept under review in consultation with the Council and community as required.

Once the site has reached the end of its lifecycle, the project infrastructure can be dismantled, with all structures and ancillary facilities removed, returning the land to its pre-existing condition.

As part of the permitting process, a detailed decommissioning plan will be created for the project. This plan includes a commitment and a budget to implement and specifications as to how the site will be returned to its original condition.

X-ELIO welcomes information from the local community regarding agricultural land use, as it will help us better understand potential past, present, and future agricultural impacts and mitigation measures.

The proposed Willavale Park BESS site is located at the corner of Hume Highway and Wollogorang Road, in Wollogorang, NSW. It sits 22 kilometres southwest of Goulburn.

An extensive location and pre-feasibility connection assessment was conducted in 2023, which first informed the selection of the region and initial site. Among the many factors that were considered when choosing the project location, the key ones were:

• Land suitability and environmental factors such as topography, soil and hydrology.
• Proximity to grid infrastructure and network load capacity.
• Existence of transmission lines within the site footprint.
• Site accessibility via road.

The location has been chosen due to the proximity of a transmission line corridor, making it easier to connect energy to the grid.

The project is named after the property that has been present on the site for the last 50 years.

The project is currently in the EIS phase of the approval process with the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI).

We continue our technical studies and planning for engagement activities to seek input from the community to inform the project design. This will feed into the EIS Report, which we hope to submit to DPHI in late 2025. We can only establish timing for when construction might start if and when approval is provided from DPHI.

The Project would have a battery storage capacity of up to 300 MW.

The battery energy storage systems will collect energy from the grid and store it, in order to release it back into the grid when its needed.

Power from the BESS will be used both locally and transmitted to other areas in NSW where it is needed, based on demand.

This will be determined as part of the detailed project design and will incorporate requirements such as those relating to fire safety and biodiversity.

We have experts who are looking into the biodiversity values present across the site to help inform the design of the proposed development, as well as the first stage of the application process.

Comprehensive environmental assessments, including habitat and biodiversity studies will be undertaken as part of the Environmental Impact Statement process to help avoid or mitigate any environmental impacts associated with the Project.

Biodiversity studies typically require surveys across different seasons, which means it could take up to a year to obtain comprehensive results. We have already undertaken some studies and expect to conclude them in Q2 2025.

X-ELIO is committed to delivering an environmentally responsible project and will take all necessary measures to ensure any impacts to sensitive values are mitigated and kept within acceptable levels and in accordance with NSW Government requirements.