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Tailem Bend solar farm reaches financial close.

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The 127MW Tailem Bend solar project will begin construction later this month. A financial close has been achieved by Singapore energy company Equis Energy and a 22 year purchase power agreement (PPA) has already been signed with Snowy Hydro. There are now plans in the pipeline to create Tailem Bend 2.

Tailem Bend Solar Project

Tailem Bend Solar Farm
Tailem Bend Solar Farm (source: http://equisenergy.com/newsroom/)

The $200m project is 100km south-east of Adelaide and will begin construction in February, according to Equis.

The Australian Financial Review noted that there were initial plans for a 28.8MW diesel generator to support the solar farm, but these were scuppered by the Australian Energy Market Operator who placed “unreasonable technical demands” on the project.  

Equis, who are also planning on building a 1000MW project in Queensland’s part of the Surat Basin (the Wandoan solar farm), said they have a huge amount of projects in the pipeline:

“Australia represents one of the most exciting solar power generation markets globally and Equis expects to build over $1 billion of new projects over the next 24-36 months,” director David Russell said in the press release. 

“As Asia’s largest renewable energy developer, Equis is able to leverage its economies of scale to deliver large scale, low-cost, reliable renewable energy, which Australia needs, as well as providing employment opportunities and supporting economic growth in local communities.” Mr Russell continued. 

According to Deal Street Asia, the project is expected to start generating power and feeding it to the grid in the first quarter of next year. 

The Tailem Bend solar projects will generate around 413,000MWh/year, which is equivalent to 82,600 homes and will save over 200,000 tonnes of CO2 annually compared to the same generation from South Australia’s current non-renewable power plants. 

Equis Energy are also building a  250MW DC solar photovoltaic power plant with energy storage installed in NSW’s Sunraysia region (the Sunraysia solar farm)

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Australia’s largest solar plant built in NSW in 2018

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Australia’s largest solar plant will be built in NSW early next year. It will be a 250MW DC solar photovoltaic power plant with energy storage and installed in NSW’s Sunraysia region. The plant will be built by Decmil on behalf of Chinese company Maoneng Australia, who already have a solar farm in the ACT and are looking to create a second. The Sunraysia solar farm was being discussed back in June (click to view our article about it) and has changed from 200MW to 250MW but will still be located on 1000 hectares of private freehold land 17km south of Balranald centre – approximately 140km south-east of Mildura.

Australia’s largest solar plant

Australia's largest solar plant - Sunraysia Solar Farm
Australia’s largest solar plant – Sunraysia Solar Farm artist’s rendition (source: sunraysiasolarfarm.com.au)

According to Maoneng vice-president Qiao Han, Maoeng Australia and Decmil signed an MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) on Tuesday. They plan to construct the plant as soon as April or May in 2018 – with the construction contract valued at approximately $275 million. 

The plant is expected to generate at least 530,000 megawatt hours of electricity each year, and will power houses in both NSW and Victoria. Maoneng’s previous Australian solar investment, the 13MW Mugga Lane solar park in the ACT, generates around 24,500 megawatt hours – so this is a big step up. 

There’s talk of the plant also using batteries to store excess power making it one of the first solar farms in New South Wales to do so. According to a statement from Decmil, “This will provide greater energy reliability and allow the solar farm to produce electricity during periods of peak demand rather than only during sunlight hours.”

Large-Scale Solar Farm Competitors

Although this will be Australia’s largest solar plant for a while, there are currently three projects which will be larger when they are completed: 

No doubt before those three are finished we’ll have even bigger plants on the horizon – it’s great watching the neverending race of large-scale solar! 

 

 

 

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Wandoan solar farm will add 1,000MW to QLD solar.

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Singaporean renewable energy company Equis Energy have advised they are planning on building a 1,000MW solar farm (which would be the largest solar farm in Australia) in Wandoan. The Wandoan solar farm will be situated right in the middle of Queensland’s coal and gas region – in Queensland’s area of the Surat Basin. This is exciting news for Queensland solar and Australian solar farms in general – it could potentially be one of the biggest solar farms in the world.

About the Wandoan Solar Farm

Wandoan Solar Farm Location
Wandoan Solar Farm Location (source: chinchillanews.com.au)

The farm, which would add to the existing 4,000MW of renewable energy currently planned for QLD, will cover 1424 hectares and generate between 300 and 400 jobs during construction. According to the Toowoomba Chronicle, the $2 billion project will commence construction in the next 12 months and work will be staggered over a three year period.

Paul McVeigh, the Western Downs Regional Council Mayor, was quoted in the Chronicle as saying the farm will represent a significant investment in the area – “It’s a $2 billion construction cost and of that we expect at least 50 per cent of that to be invested in the local community,” Cr McVeigh said. According to the Chinchilla News it is a $1.5 billion investment, but whichever price the farm ends up costing there’s no doubt it’ll be a massive boon to the community if it goes ahead.

Cr McVeigh was also quoted in the Chinchilla News about the way Equis and the Western Downs council are approaching the approval process: “Equis has expressed their desire to be proactive in their consultation with neighbours of this project site, and that aligns with the business model we are promoting for renewable energy projects. The time-frame in which council has processed this application highlights the message we are open for business, and I think it is important to reiterate that although our approval process is rigorous, it is efficient.”

Lastly, McVeigh discussed the myriad options the area has with regards to energy needs: “We have our coal and coal-fire powered stations and coal seam gas…(now) we have a third wave of energy with solar farms, wind farms about to start construction on and also the ethanol plan near Dalby.”

No word yet on the specifics of the site or if it’ll include any storage, but we’ll update this article as soon as we have any news about the farm.

 

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