Big poultry operation near Tamworth is making a move to solar power

Last year Australia's biggest grower of broiler chickens, ProTen, got the green light to begin operating on a portion of its Rushes Creek Poultry Farm between Lake Keepit and Manilla, backed by diesel generators for 12 months, while securing power line infrastructure from Essential Energy.

This week, the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) granted modifications sought by the developer to install solar panels on the roof of the constructed farm sheds and at its irrigation facility near the Namoi River "to reduce dependency on diesel generators".

The state-significant development to build a large-scale poultry farm on Rushes Creek Road was first approved in April 2020, and the facility was given special permission to begin serving the region's high demand for chickens even before construction finishes on three out of its four farms.

The single currently-operational farm consists of 18 poultry sheds and the plan is to eventually up that number to 54 sheds in total, housing a combined site population of 3,051,000 birds at a time.

In addition, the developer was granted approval to build seven 'slab on ground' dwellings for farm managers to live in "rather than previously assessed and approved moveable dwellings".

The DPE allowed the poultry farm a six-month extension on its use of diesel generators as it transitions to its long-term power arrangements, with conditions placed on its new plan for solar panels to "reduce visual impact" and to protect the Namoi from soil erosion.

In addition, the whole development is required to "seek to maximise energy efficiencies and reduce energy consumption" by using as much solar energy during daylight hours as possible once the panel arrays are up and running.

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After winning approval, ProTen is looking to connect to the grid network by the end of 2023 and begin its second stage of construction - the remaining 36 poultry sheds - soon after.

If it can get on the grid any faster, the DPE says the poultry farm must do so.

"In the event the reticulated electricity power supply via the extension of Essential Energy's overhead infrastructure from Manilla to the development site has been installed and commissioned prior to the conclusion of the 18-month period, the applicant must connect to the reticulated electricity supply as soon as practicable following the commissioning of this infrastructure," the DPE's modification approval reads.

Once connected to the grid, the poultry farm's current diesel generators will be kept as an emergency backup power supply.

ProTen supplies chickens to Australia's largest chicken processor, Baiada Poultry, and is one of the major players in the expansion of the poultry industry in and around Tamworth.

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