ACT Solar Power Facility Public Consultation

The first round of public consultations for the ACT solar power facility finished last week. I’ve attached a PDF of the slideshow for info:

Solar_Facility_Powerpoint_Presentation_June_2009

The criteria listed for selection of the site are:

• Cleared land with no significant shading
• Level land with a gentle gradient, preferably north-facing
• Land suitable for access roads
• Located near a connection point to a high voltage transmission network
• Access to a suitable gas supply
• Assess to a water supply and waste water disposal
• Separation from domestic residences
• Not overlooked by significant population centres
• Located way from major plumes or sources of dust; and
• Appropriate zoning and environmental considerations

To my untrained eye, the site at Ingledene Forest would appear to be more appropriate than Kowen Forest. The Ingledene area looks like this:

Whereas, Kowen is more heavily wooded:

(Oh, and one minor Gov2.0 gripe, why have a jpg of Ingledene and a pdf of Kowen, both nearly half a meg in size? Doesn’t make them quickly viewable or comparable for most people… I’ve converted the Kowen pdf to jpg and compressed it so it’s more easily read on this page).