LMS Energy has applied to install about 1400 solar panels on an old landfill site at the waste management centre at a cost of $3.5 million.

Construction is expected to take two to three months and require up to 20 semi-trailers worth of equipment to be installed.

Albury Council received an application for the project from LMS Energy in June, and councillors will vote on the company’s proposal at a meeting on Monday.

The company already runs a gas powered facility at the tip and council staff recommend the solar project be approved by councillors.

An independent assessment has also recommended the development be approved, with a report noting the project would have minimal impact on the environment and nearby properties. 

Once complete, the system would have capacity to generate 1900 megawatt hours of power each year, which would feed into local energy distribution networks.

The system would have a lifespan of 25 years and LMS says greenhouse gas emissions would be reduced by 2200 tonnes each year.

The renewable energy facility would take up about 10,00 square metres of unused land at the site. 

Frames, inverters and transformers would also need to be installed, and cables would need to be buried in trenches as part of the project. 

“The proposed construction and operation of a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic system on land consisting of older waste cells at the Albury Waste Management Centre is considered justified,” LMS staff note in a report tendered to the council.  

“The proposal will make beneficial use of vacant land, which is unsuitable for residential or commercial development, while providing a source of renewable electricity exported to the local grid and benefits to the local community.”

The system would be installed near the main entry to the tip off Mudge Street, but will largely be obscured from public view. 

It would need to be disassembled and removed after 25 years. 

Albury Council has signed up to a partnership aimed at increasing the use of renewable energy. 

“Coupled with the production of renewable electricity and greenhouse gas savings, the proposed is considered to have a positive environmental benefit,” LMS notes in its report. ​