South Fremantle Solar Farm

Update - July 2022

In July 2022, at its Ordinary Meeting of Council the City of Fremantle Council acknowledged Epuron used its best endeavours to bring the project to fruition however, primarily due to commercial market factors in the electricity generation and retailing industries the project has not been able to be completed. To give the local community certainty, Council terminated the agreement with Epuron to build a solar farm on the former South Fremantle landfill site. The City will now research other potential suitable uses for the site.

For further information please refer to the agenda and minutes of the 27 July 2022 Council meeting.

https://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/Minutes%20-%20Ordinary%20Meeting%20of%20Council%20-%2027%20July%202022%20%28ID%205450014%29.pdf

The project proponent, Epuron, is continuing to review funding options and power purchase agreements for the solar farm.

If and when project feasibility is confirmed, the lease will be finalised and Epuron will be in a position to appoint a contractor.

The City is currently expecting a decision on whether the project is likely to proceed by the end of 2021.

Question 12.18 has been updated to reflect new information received by the City of Fremantle.

In addition to the existing advice from the Department of Health, the City has also checked with the federal Department of Agriculture regarding any obligations under the Biosecurity Act 2015.

The Department has confirmed that the site is not subject to Approved Arrangements site provisions under this Act.

The Department has stated that it will work with the Western Australian Department of Water and Environmental Regulation and the City of Fremantle in relation to this matter.

The City of Fremantle and Epuron have recently received further questions about site management for the proposed South Fremantle solar farm.

The new questions and answers have been added to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section as Section 12 - Additional questions received July-August 2019. Question 12.9 refers to a 2016 Offsite Landfill Gas and Vapour Investigation conducted by GHD. This report is also now available in the document library. Please note before downloading that the report has been compressed but is still over 50MB.

All other relevant documents - including the SMP/CEMP and the Auditor’s Report (MAR) are also available for download in the document library.

As previously advised the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) has accepted the Contaminated Sites Auditor’s recommendation that the South Fremantle Landfill site is suitable for use as a Solar Farm - providing the Site and Construction Environmental Management Plan (SMP/CEMP) is adhered to.

As promised, the City of Fremantle and Epuron will be arranging a community information session to help explain and answer any questions on the site management requirements.

In order to best answer the very specific site management questions which are arising, the City and Epuron have agreed the meeting would be most helpful if it were held when a contractor has been appointed.

This is likely to occur later in the year. We will provide notification once a date has been set.

In the meantime, you can view the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), including information on:

• Q 6.1 How will the panels be laid out and does the final design disturb the bund?
• Q 10.2 The Site Management Plan (SMP) is quite a large document, where can I find the information I’m looking for?

All the relevant documents - including the SMP/CEMP and the Auditor’s Report (MAR) are also available for download in the document library.

The City of Fremantle has received advice that Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) has accepted the Contaminated Sites Auditor’s recommendation that the South Fremantle landfill site is suitable for use as a solar farm, providing the Site Management Plan (SMP) and Construction Environmental Management Plan (CEMP) are adhered to.

The City of Fremantle and Epuron will be arranging a community information session to help explain and answer any questions on the site management requirements.

All relevant documents - including the Site and Construction Management Plans and the Auditor’s Report are now available in the document library. We’ve also provided more frequently asked questions including a summary of requirements in the SMP/CEMP and a guide as to where to find specific information in the documents.

A report on the South Fremantle Solar Farm Business Plan was considered by the City of Fremantle’s Finance, Policy, Operations and Legislation (FPOL) Committee on Wednesday 12 September 2018 and Council on Wednesday 26 September 2018. Council approved the Business Plan, you can view the Council minutes here.

The City of Fremantle will not sign the lease until Epuron has met all conditions of the development approval and all environmental approvals. The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) must approve the lease and will not do so unless it is satisfied with the plans for site management.

Epuron will amend its site management plan and prepare a construction management plan in accordance with the City and the auditor’s requirements. The revised documents will be made available to the public prior to commencement of construction, via this project page.

Under the Local Government Act, any major land transaction requires the City to prepare a Business Plan.

This plan must be advertised for six weeks to allow for community input. This period formally commenced on 10 May 2018 will be open until 21 June.