The Australian government has approved construction of a major new solar farm in northern New South Wales, promising hundreds of jobs, cheaper power and cleaner energy for the Northern Rivers region.
The 90-megawatt Summerville Solar Farm will be built on a 244-hectare site at Rappville in the Richmond Valley, around 60 kilometres south-west of Lismore.
Once operational, it will generate enough electricity to power approximately 36,000 homes, featuring 215,000 photovoltaic panels and a 360 MW battery energy storage system capable of providing up to four hours of storage.
Electricity from the farm will be fed into the grid via underground cables connecting to Transgrid’s existing Lismore–Koolkhan transmission line southeast of the site.
The $312 million project received federal environmental approval in just 30 business days and is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 200,000 CO₂-equivalent tonnes annually — the same as taking around 60,000 passenger cars off the road for a year.
Federal Minister for the Environment Murray Watt said the development’s location on agricultural land with reliable sunshine would deliver broad benefits for the community and environment.
“This project is an example of good design and site selection leading to fast approval times and ultimately delivering reliable, renewable energy with minimal impact to the environment,” Minister Watt said.
“And I recognise the plans to maintain grazing on the land, as part of state government approvals, demonstrating once again that there’s ways for renewables and agriculture to work together.
Watt said that while the Australian government was pressing ahead with cleaner, cheaper energy and creating jobs for the Northern Rivers, local MP Kevin Hogan was focused on internal Coalition disputes over climate science.
He argued that as Deputy Nationals Leader, Hogan should support the solar project rather than backing what he described as a regressive Coalition agenda.
Watt noted that since 2022, the government had approved 93 renewable energy projects — enough to power more than 11 million homes — and was generating record levels of renewable electricity, keeping Australia on track to become a “renewable energy superpower”.
The Summerville Solar Farm will also allow grazing to continue on the land during its operation, ensuring agricultural use alongside renewable energy production.
Construction of the facility is expected to support approximately 200 jobs in building, inspection, maintenance and management.
