A BEGA business has been awarded a contract to undertake environmental planning for a $2 billion wind farm proposed near Broken Hill.
The environmental business nghenvironmental, has won the contract to carry out the environmental planning and assessment of the biggest proposed wind farm in Australia.
The Silverton wind farm, proposed by Epuron, would be located west of Broken Hill and contain up to 400 wind turbines, with the project expected to produce up to 4.5 per cent of NSW's annual energy needs.
It would power up to 400,000 homes, saving as much as three million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
The project requires assessment as a Part 3A Major Project under NSW environmental planning legislation.
The team from nghenvironmental has worked with Epuron on five other wind farm assessments in NSW over the last three years.
One was located on the Snowy Plains, west of Berridale, with the remainder located in the Yass - Goulburn area.
"Wind farms are a viable way to generate emission free electricity and can have a much smaller environmental footprint than coal and gas powered plants," the company's director, Nick Graham-Higgs, said.
"This is a significant and very exciting project to be involved with," said Mr Graham-Higgs.
"Our role here is to examine all the potential environmental impacts and design ways to avoid or manage these impacts, where they cannot be avoided.
"For example, where degradation is occurring, we will be considering ways to improve site management as well as manage the direct impacts of the proposed wind farm.
"This is a significant achievement for Bega and for renewable energy advocates. "It is noteworthy that a business established in the Bega Valley can play this type of lead role in the environmental planning and management of such a significant sustainable development."
Mr Graham-Higgs said his business started at home in Merimbula, then moved to Wolumla.
Four years ago it was set up in Bega and now employs ten people. He also has offices in Sydney, Wagga Wagga and Busselton.
The firm has done work for the Bega Valley Shire Council on such projects as the Bega-Yellowpinch pipeline and lots of work in the Snowy Mountains.