Bowmans Creek Wind Farm Stage 2 and Stage 1 BESS

The Bowmans Creek Wind Farm Stage 2 (the Project) proposed by Bowmans Creek Wind Farm Pty Ltd, wholly owned by Ark Energy Pty Ltd (the Proponent), comprises the construction, operation and decommissioning of additional large-scale wind farm infrastructure in the Muswellbrook Shire Council and Singleton Council Local Government Area (LGAs) in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The Project will involve 21 wind turbines generators (WTG) and 120-megawatt (MW) generation capacity.

The Project will generate up to 160 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs during its 22-month construction period and 40 FTE jobs over its operational life.

Furthermore, Ark Energy is seeking consent to add a battery energy storage system (BESS) to Stage 1 as a modification to the Development Application. A BESS allows for efficient storage of excess energy generated during peak production for later use during low production periods or high demand, improving reliability and reducing energy costs.

The BESS would have a power capacity of up to 250 megawatts (MW) and energy storage capacity of up to 2,000 MWh over eight hours.

This survey forms part of the Social Impact Assessment (SIA) for the Wind Farm (Stage 2) and BESS Component (Stage 1). Social impact assessment is the process of understanding and managing the social impact of projects and programs on people.

Survey responses will be used to understand the issues that matter most to you and people in your community and to identify what you see as the potential impacts and benefits that may come from the Project.

Participation is completely voluntary. If you find any question invasive or offensive, then you are free to omit answering or participating further in the survey. All information you provide is confidential and will only be used in aggregated/deidentified form in analysis and reporting.