Australia will get its largest solar venture after AGL Energy (AGK) announced yesterday that it will proceed with two projects in western NSW, costing a total of $450 million.
The large-scale solar photovoltaic projects will go ahead after the energy company secured funding deals with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the NSW government,.
AGL said the solar projects will include a 102-megawatt solar plant at Nyngan, north-west of Dubbo, and a 53-megawatt solar plant at Broken Hill in the state’s west.
ARENA will provide a grant of $166.7 million and the NSW government will chip in funds totalling $64.9 million, AGL said yesterday.
AGK YTD – AGL unveils Australia’s biggest solar energy plants
US-based First Solar will provide engineering and construction services for both projects, using advanced thin-film PV modules.
“Solar PV in Australia has come a long way from being a small-scale industry in a relatively short time frame," said Michael Fraser, AGL’s managing director said in the statement.
"The Nyngan and Broken Hill solar plants will be the nation’s largest solar projects, with the Nyngan plant also being the largest in the Southern Hemisphere.”
The projects will produce about 360,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, which will be sufficient to meet the needs of more than 50,000 average NSW homes, the company said.
Construction of the Nyngan project is expected to start in January 2014, with completion scheduled by mid 2015.
The Broken Hill plant will start construction in July 2014, and is scheduled to be completed by about November 2015.
"We expect these projects to create approximately 150 construction jobs in Broken Hill and approximately 300 in Nyngan. This will provide significant financial flow on benefits to both communities. The projects are expected to add nearly two percent to the gross regional product of each regional economy,” said Mr Fraser.
First Solar will operate and maintain both projects for AGL for five years after commercial operation starts. “First Solar is delighted to be working with AGL,” Jack Curtis, Vice President of Business Development, First Solar said in yesterday’s release. “These plants demonstrate that utility-scale solar is a proven source of power generation in Australia today."
The AGL solar projects will also facilitate research supported by the Education Investment Fund. AGL will collaborate with the University of Queensland and the University of New South Wales as well as First Solar, to implement original research which will support the future development of solar energy in Australia.
AGL shares dipped 0.9% or 14c, $14.55.
