Three of Ark Energy's development projects have been named in the Australian Government's first National Renewable Energy Priority List:

• Richmond Valley Solar & BESS in New South Wales.
• Boomer Green Energy Hub in Queensland.
• St Patricks Plains Wind Farm in Tasmania.

The Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has collaborated with state and territory governments through the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council (ECMC) to create the Priority List. The initiative will provide additional support to accelerate regulatory planning and environmental approval processes for identified priority renewable energy projects across Australia.

The inaugural list identifies 56 priority projects considered important for Australia's energy transition, 32 for generation and storage projects, and 24 for transmission.

Ark Energy's Richmond Valley Solar & BESS project is proposed for an area about 25 km south of Casino in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. It consists of a solar farm with a generation capacity of up to 500 megawatts and a long-duration battery energy storage system (BESS) with a power capacity of 275 megawatts and energy storage capacity of up to 2,200 megawatt hours over eight hours, to support the NSW energy network.

The Boomer Green Energy Hub is a large scale wind project proposed for an area approximately 100 km north-west of Rockhampton and 30 km south-west of Marlborough in central Queensland, and has an estimated generation capacity of 1,000 MW.

The St Patricks Plains Wind Farm is proposed for an area about 25 km north of Bothwell in the Central Highlands region of Tasmania, and has an estimated generation capacity of 300 MW.

Subject to approvals, these three projects could deliver up to 1.8 GW of generation across three states, plus storage.

More information on the National Priority List is available from the DCCEEW website. What the list means for Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 assessments is available at Priority Renewable Energy Projects.