Bungala Solar Farm receives final approval.

Posted on October 9, 2017 by Mike — No Comments ↓

The 275MW Bungala Solar Farm, which is already under construction, has received final approval. Bought by Italian energy company Enel, the $400m solar farm built in conjunction with the Dutch Infrastructure Fund is expected to be ready in early 2019.

Bungala Solar Farm

The farm will see 860,000 solar panels built on 585 hectares of Bungala Aboriginal Corporation land and, according to Enel, will create around 200 jobs during the construction period. We previously reported on the Bungala project back in April where it was to be built by Reach Solar and the agreement to sell it to Enel Green Energy and the Dutch Infrastructure Fund had been inked – they were just waiting on a financial close when has been reached this week.

Head of Enel Green Power, Antonio Cammisecra, spoke about the Bungala Solar Project to news.com.au and said that it would be Enel’s initial foray into the Australian renewable energy market – with the goal to become a “key player” in the industry. “The project marks the first step of our growth strategy in a country which boasts such an abundant resource base and whose renewable capacity is expected to surge in the next years,” Cammisecra said.

The farm is to be ‘battery storage ready’, and, according to RenewEconomy, will most likely be the first major Australian solar farm to enter Australia’s FCAS (Frequency Control and Ancillary Services) market – as they’ll be utilising SMA inverters to provide voltage control for the grid.

The Bungala solar farm has signed a PPA with Origin Energy – earlier this year Frank Calabria, the chief of Origin, discussed how important ‘big solar’ is for our future and how we need to work on the transition to renewables: “Energy markets around the world are in transition and Australia is no different,” Calabria said. “We must make sure our energy supply is secure, as Australian homes and businesses rely on it. At the same time, we must make sure energy continues to be affordable as we move Australia towards a cleaner supply.”

2017 NSW Tariff-Tracking Report released.

Posted on August 11, 2017 by Mike — No Comments ↓

The St Vincent de Paul society has released its fifth NSW Tariff-Tracking report and it shows the huge disparity between deals the retailers are offering – with the best offers saving almost $840 p.a. compared to those on the worst plans. In regional NSW this range is even worse, with the difference reported by the SMH as up to $1230. Australian solar power plans are in need of a shake-up and this week the government have taken the retailers to task by asking them to change the way they deal with discounts and rolling over plans.

NSW Tariff-Tracking

Despite ballooning wholesale energy costs, retailer AGL reported a net profit of $539m for the 2016/17 financial year. The profits of energy retailers have been in the crosshairs of the government over the past few months as their dubious tactics of offering short term discounts and then rolling customers onto more expensive plans without the discounts have been examined.

On Wednesday the government met with eight power companies (Energy Australia, Momentum Energy, Simply Energy, Alinta Energy, Origin Energy, AGL, Australian Energy Council and Snowy Hydro) to discuss the rapidly increasing prices and come up with a solution to the murky short-term ‘discount’ based business model they are employing. After the meeting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull discussed the issue and the government’s fix, saying “They are on … discounted plans that have run out, and they are now on a standard offer and paying too much for their electricity. The retailers have agreed that they will write to their customers who have reached the end of a discounted plan and outline, in plain English, alternative offers that are available,”

Given that the Energy Market Commission found 50% of households haven’t changed retailer or plan in the last 5 years, there’s a lot of money being left on the table. According to Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) have told the government households could save over $1,000 per year by changing retailer/plan.

In terms of the power companies, they were mostly happy to agree to Turnbull’s plan, but there was ongoing discussion about Canberra’s dilly dallying with regards to the Clean Energy Target. Origin Energy’s chief exec, Frank Calabria, was quoted by the SMH as saying that “to deliver a genuine reduction in prices for Australians, we must also find a way through on energy policy, including a Clean Energy Target. This is necessary to unlock investment in much-needed new supply to replace our ageing coal-fired power stations, and transition us to a cleaner, more modern energy system”.

Click here to view the full report directly from the Vinnies website.

Darling Downs Solar Farm sold by Origin to APA Group.

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Mike — No Comments ↓

The Darling Downs Solar Farm, previously owned by Origin Energy Ltd, has been sold to pipelines owner APA Group. According to Sky News it was a $220 million deal.

The project (it isn’t built yet and is slated to reach completion in 2018) will be located near Dalby, next to an existing 644MW gas-fired generator. The PV Solar Farm will be constructed with 110MW capacity and Origin have already signed a 12 year purchase power agreement (from 2018 – 2030) to receive the energy output of the farm. The $220m project was the biggest to come out of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)’s recent large scale solar tender – receiving $20m from them to support the infrastructure. This funding will now go directly to APA to complete the project.

Origin Energy and the Darling Downs Solar Farm

Origin CEO Frank Calabria has been quoted by saying that Origin have added more than 650MW of power to their portfolio recently and are confident they’ll be able to reach their share of the renewable energy target.

“We’re well on our way towards achieving our objective of building or contracting up to 1,500 MW of new large scale renewable generation by 2020. This will see Origin almost entirely replace the capacity of what was one of Australia’s largest carbon emitters, the recently retired Hazelwood power station, with 100 per cent renewable energy.”

Managing Director Mick McCormack was also quoted as showing how Origin is on board: “…we see investing in renewable energy as key to supporting Australia’s transition to a lower carbon economy”

APA Group

The Darling Downs Solar Farm is the second solar acquisition for APA Group – it’ll follow the Emu Downs Solar Farm facility in Western Australia. It will be built alongside the Emu Downs Wind Farm and was funded by ARENA as well, with $5.5m being awarded for the $20m 20MW Cervantes farm which will encompass 80,000 solar panels over 70 hectares. It is expected to be completed by this December.

The latest Australian solar news and deals for the industrial, commercial and residential sectors.

Frank Calabria

Bungala Solar Farm receives final approval.