Lecroma — Shaping a resilient future
REZ Project Watch
Australia · NSW deep dive
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Demo seed — verify before use. This dashboard distinguishes between declared REZs, proposed or candidate REZs, access-rights projects, planning-portal projects, priority-list projects and offshore wind declared areas. Status does not imply final approval unless confirmed by the relevant authority.
Data currency: 2026-05-18 · 59 of 67 projects verified at confidence ≥ 70/100
Verified URLs span NSW Planning Portal, IPC, DCCEEW EPBC, proponent project sites.
NSW deep dive › Central-West Orana REZ › Sandy Creek Solar Farm

Sandy Creek Solar Farm

Lightsource bp
solarassessmentConfidence: Very high
Capacity and technology
Technology
solar
Capacity (MW)
750 MW
Estimated capex, local spend and peak workforce
Total development cost
~$900M benchmark estimate
750 MW × $1.2M/MW (solar)
Industry benchmark only — not project-specific. Sources: Clean Energy Council, BloombergNEF 2024 Australian utility-scale LCOE inputs, AEMO ISP 2024 cost assumptions. Actual capex varies materially by site, OEM, supply chain and grid-connection works.
Estimated local / regional spend
~$198M benchmark estimate
22% of capex — Clean Energy Council benchmark for renewable energy construction in regional Australia. Actual local content varies by project siting, procurement strategy and any access-scheme local-content conditions.
Estimated peak construction workforce
~375 roles benchmark estimate
Industry benchmark: ~0.7 FTE/MW wind, 0.5 FTE/MW solar, 0.4 FTE/MWh BESS, 1.5 FTE/MW pumped hydro. Peak during civil/electrical phase only — operations workforce is typically ~5-10% of construction peak.
Workforce breakdown — sector mix and phasing

Sector mix and phase distribution for the estimated construction workforce. Basis: industry norm (Clean Energy Council, ARENA, AEMO ISP 2024 + comparable EIS Social Impact Assessments). Numbers are decision-support indicators, not a project-specific forecast.

By service sector / industry (peak year)
Civil / earthworks
~94 FTE
Electrical trades
~113 FTE
Mechanical / structural
~38 FTE
Plant operators
~38 FTE
PM / engineering / env
~38 FTE
Logistics / admin
~56 FTE
By phase (across construction window)
PhaseFTEWhat's happening
Mobilisation + civils (year 1)
~225
Site prep, access roads, foundations, early electrical. Civil trades dominant.
Peak construction (year 2)
~375
All trades concurrent. Turbine / panel delivery, electrical install, commissioning prep.
Commissioning / demob (year 3)
~263
Specialist electrical and testing. Civil and structural ramping down.
Operations (ongoing)
~26
Permanent O&M workforce — typically 5–10% of construction peak. Plus periodic major-maintenance windows.

Sector mix from CEC, ARENA and AEMO ISP workforce profiles for utility-scale Australian builds. Phase distribution from comparable EIS Social Impact Assessments. Indicative only — actual workforce varies with OEM, contractor strategy, weather and OSOM scheduling.

Approvals and access rights
Project status
assessment
Planning status
EIS submitted to DPHI May 2024; under assessment
Access right status
awarded — CWO REZ access scheme
EPBC status
Federal EPBC approval received March 2024 (750 MW solar + 3,000 MWh storage)
Grid connection
to connect to proposed CWO REZ transmission line
Financial close
subject to NSW planning approval
Construction start
unknown
Operations start
unknown
Location
LGA
Warrumbungle Shire / Dubbo Regional
Region
Central West NSW
REZ
Central-West Orana REZ
REZ relationship
inside declared REZ
Coordinates
-32.5, 149.4 (approximate)
Project documents — EIS, SEARs, proponent pages

Direct links to public documents and pages for this project. Phase 2 ingestion will pull updates automatically; Sprint 0 entries are verified manually with a confidence score per record.

Notes

Capacity updated to 750 MW per EPBC referral (840 MW DC / ~750 MW AC). EPBC approved March 2024; NSW assessment under way.

Source confidence: 85/100
Last verified: 2026-05-13
Every material fact on this page is sourced. A "View source" link is provided per source below.
Source evidence
Confidence: Very high
  • primaryNSW Planning Portal — Major Projects
    View source ↗
    Authoritative for NSW SSD and SSI planning status. Hosts each project's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), SEARs, response to submissions, and other planning documents. Outranks proponent and media reports for planning_status. Per-project EIS and SSD page URLs are tracked under each project's project_documents.
  • primaryDCCEEW — EPBC referrals and approvals
    View source ↗
    Authoritative for EPBC referral and approval status. EPBC approval is separate from state planning approval.
  • primaryEnergyCo NSW
    View source ↗
    Primary authority for NSW Renewable Energy Zones, access schemes, access-right tender outcomes and REZ project coordination under the Electricity Infrastructure Investment Act 2020.
  • primaryAEMO Services / AusEnergy Services
    View source ↗
    Consumer Trustee for NSW LTESA / access-right tenders. Authoritative for access-right award status.
  • secondaryProponent project websites
    View source ↗
    Proponent-supplied content from each project's dedicated page on the proponent's website. Useful for technology, capacity intent, community engagement messaging, project newsletters, fact sheets and timeline updates. Cannot override official planning_status or epbc_status. Per-project page URLs are tracked under each project's project_documents.
Open questions
  • Planning status against the NSW Planning Portal — verify SSD reference.
  • EPBC referral status — verify against DCCEEW public notices.
  • Storage MWh and voltage figures — confirm from proponent documents and AEMO Generation Information.
  • Workforce and accommodation commitments — confirm in SSD documentation or VPA.
  • First Nations engagement reporting — confirm in IEP / cultural heritage chapter.
See this project in context
REZ workspace
Central-West Orana REZ
All projects, pressure bands and shared-value commitments for this REZ
LGA detail
Warrumbungle Shire
7 projects · everything affecting this council area
LGA detail
Dubbo Regional
3 projects · everything affecting this council area
Workforce + supply ratio
Demand vs ABS baseline
How this REZ's peak compares to existing regional workforce
Regional spend
Annual flow by year
This project's share of the year-by-year capex flow into regional NSW
Project timeline
Gantt by REZ
Visual overlap with neighbouring projects' construction windows
Cross-sector pressures
Non-REZ competing demand
What else is being built in the region in the same window
Upcoming decisions
5 relevant to this project or REZ
IPC meetings, EIS exhibitions, council determinations