Developer Drops Coal Country Solar and Battery Plans in Face of Mounting Local Opposition
•February 18, 2026
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Why It Matters
The cancellation highlights how community resistance can reshape renewable energy siting, potentially delaying grid‑scale projects. It also signals developers must prioritize stakeholder alignment to meet Australia’s clean‑energy targets.
Key Takeaways
- •Elgin drops 90 MW solar, 90 MW battery project.
- •Local opposition centered on site location, not technology.
- •Community prefers sites on former mining lands.
- •Proposed 14 km transmission lines sparked further resistance.
- •Decision underscores need for rural stakeholder engagement.
Pulse Analysis
Australia’s renewable energy agenda is accelerating, with New South Wales earmarking large Renewable Energy Zones to meet decarbonisation goals. Solar‑plus‑storage projects like the proposed Mitchells Flat facility are attractive because they pair generation with grid‑balancing capacity, reducing reliance on fossil peaker plants. However, the rapid rollout often collides with land‑use priorities in regional communities, where agricultural productivity and residential expansion remain sensitive issues. Understanding these competing interests is essential for investors seeking to navigate the nation’s evolving energy landscape.
The Mitchells Flat opposition was less about solar technology and more about siting. Residents, organized through the Singleton Solar Standoff group, argued that the chosen parcel sat on low‑quality agricultural land adjacent to new housing, threatening both farm viability and local aesthetics. The 14‑kilometre high‑voltage transmission corridor, planned along existing road reserves, amplified concerns about visual impact and property values. Community leaders pointed to nearby former mining sites—already repurposed for projects such as Maxwell Solar Farm and Muswellbrook pumped hydro—as more appropriate locations, offering existing grid connections and minimal disruption to productive land.
For developers, the episode underscores the strategic importance of early, transparent engagement with rural stakeholders. Aligning project footprints with community‑approved zones can mitigate delays, preserve public goodwill, and accelerate permitting. Policymakers may also need to refine guidance on land classification within REZs, ensuring that renewable infrastructure is directed toward underutilised or rehabilitated sites rather than prime agricultural areas. As Australia pushes toward its 2030 renewable targets, the Mitchells Flat case serves as a cautionary tale: successful energy transitions depend as much on social licence as on technological capability.
Developer drops coal country solar and battery plans in face of mounting local opposition
Plans to develop a solar and battery project at Mitchells Flat, around 75 kilometres northwest of Newcastle, have been dropped by the developer, in what has been described as a “really welcome outcome” for members of surrounding New South Wales communities.
Elgin Energy, which is majority owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, was in early development of a 90‑megawatt (MW) solar farm with an accompanying 90 MW battery energy storage system (BESS).
The 177,000‑panel project was planned for the small rural location of Mitchells Flat, which has a population of around 250, around 12 km northeast of Singleton and 150 km north of Sydney.
The site was earmarked by Elgin as lower‑quality agricultural land or ‘Biophysical Strategic Agricultural Land’ and well suited to solar due to being “relatively flat and clear land with few environmental constraints.”
Local opposition to the project appears to have galvanized after a meeting with the local community at the Singleton library in August 2024, led by the Singleton Solar Standoff community group.
Michael Holz, a member of the group who addressed a NSW government inquiry into the impact of Renewable Energy Zones (REZs) on rural and regional communities and industries in NSW, said it was the proposed location the community objected to, and not the technology.
“Our community is simply asking that developments like what is proposed at Mitchells Flat be constructed in the right location within the Singleton LGA so that they do not impact on either our rural residential communities or our productive farming land,” Holz said.
Holz notes that the project’s proposed location, east of Singleton, is also home to new residential developments, while local industrial projects—such as mining, power generation, and industrial estates—tended to be located to the north and west of Singleton.
“Anyone that has visited the Hunter Valley is aware that there are vast areas of mining rehab and buffer lands that are ideal for solar projects, given their cheaper establishment cost, being in close proximity to existing electrical grid infrastructure,” Holz said.
Holz points to examples like the Maxwell Solar Farm (proposed in 2019 for the old Drayton Mine site); the Muswellbrook Pumped Hydro Project to be built on the former Muswellbrook Coal Mine site and the top of Bells Mountain; and the Stratford Renewable Energy Hub, which aims to use part of the Stratford coal mine once mining has ended. Each of these is located west and north of Singleton.
Locals were also unimpressed by the proposed 14 kilometres of high‑voltage transmission lines that were to be built from the solar farm and battery, much of which would be built within the existing road reserve along several local roads.
In a Facebook post earlier this week, federal Hunter MP Dan Repacholi said the news that Elgin had decided not to progress the Mitchells Flat project was “a really welcome outcome” for the local community.
“Like many locals across the Hunter, I know there’s been a lot of concern raised about this project, from land use and environmental impacts through to what it would mean for the future of our regional landscape,” Repacholi said.
“Elgin’s decision is a positive step, and I think it’s fair to say there’s a real sense of relief across the community that they’ve chosen to focus their development efforts elsewhere.
“This outcome shows just how important it is that local voices are heard when it comes to major developments in our region.”
Renew Economy has reached out to Elgin Energy for comment.
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