Shire of Dardanup recommends Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel approves Picton East battery system

A South West council has recommended a diesel power generator be replaced with a battery system, despite concerns from some councillors.

The Shire of Dardanup voted 5-1 at last week’s meeting to lend its support to Tesla Corporation Management Pty Ltd’s proposed 40MWh system, which will take over a peak generator at Hardisty Court in Picton East.

The $9.9 million proposal still has to go through the Regional Joint Development Assessment Panel before it is approved, but there were plenty of questions from councillors at the meeting.

Cr Tony Jenour questioned company director Ben Tan about the procedures if there is an issue with the batteries.

“There’s a lot of references to the bushfire management plan, but there is however no management plan to a battery catching on fire and how you are going to manage that,” Cr Jenour said.

Mr Tan said there will be operational procedures and the company has guidance from manufacturers as to what do in the situation.

Cr Mark Hutchinson asked if any batteries had “gone bang”, with Mr Tan responding one had in Victoria in the last few years but it was contained to a single battery and it used “different chemistry” from the batteries proposed for the Picton East site.

In his presentation to council, Mr Tan said the development was one of several diesel generators the company was planning to convert to batteries.

“We recently got development approval in the Shire of Northam for exactly the same project conversion from diesel to a (battery) system,” he said.

“These are important projects for our State to decarbonise.”

TCM requested council remove a requirement for a landscape plan for the site, but the shire voted to keep the condition.

Cr Jenour was in the minority against in the final vote.