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The biggest solar farms in New South Wales.

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New South Wales is one of the largest states in Australia and has been making significant strides in the field of renewable energy, particularly with solar power. With plenty of sunshine and vast open spaces, the state has become an ideal location for large-scale solar power plants. Here are some of the biggest solar power plants in New South Wales:

  1. Sunraysia Solar Farm: Located in Balranald, Sunraysia is one of the largest solar farms in Australia. With 1.2 million solar panels spread over 2,000 hectares, the farm has a total capacity of 200 MW.
  2. Limondale Solar Farm: Developed by French company Neoen, Limondale Solar Farm has a total capacity of 249 MW. The farm is spread across 900 hectares near Balranald and uses 872,000 solar panels.
  3. Wellington Solar Farm: Located near the town of Wellington, this solar farm has a total capacity of 174 MW. The farm is owned by Lightsource BP, and has more than 500,000 solar panels.
  4. Coleambally Solar Farm: Developed by Neoen, Coleambally Solar Farm has a total capacity of 189 MW. The farm is spread across 550 hectares and uses 567,800 solar panels.
  5. Griffith Solar Farm: Located in Yoogali, Griffith Solar Farm has a total capacity of 36 MW. The farm is spread across 104 hectares and uses 120,000 solar panels.
  6. Parkes Solar Farm: Owned by Canadian Solar, Parkes Solar Farm has a total capacity of 66 MW. The farm is spread across 210 hectares and uses 206,000 solar panels.
  7. Dubbo Solar Hub: Developed by FRV, Dubbo Solar Hub is located near Dubbo and has a total capacity of 57.5 MW. The farm uses 195,000 solar panels spread over 150 hectares.
  8. Gunnedah Solar Farm: Located near the town of Gunnedah, this solar farm has a total capacity of 45 MW. The farm uses 150,000 solar panels spread over 90 hectares.
  9. White Rock Solar Farm: Developed by Goldwind Australia, White Rock Solar Farm has a total capacity of 20 MW. The farm is spread across 43 hectares and uses 77,000 solar panels.
  10. Beryl Solar Farm: Owned by New Energy Solar, Beryl Solar Farm has a total capacity of 110 MW. The farm is located near Gulgong and uses 319,000 solar panels.

These solar power plants have been crucial in reducing Australia’s carbon emissions, and have made significant contributions towards the country’s clean energy targets. With more solar projects in the pipeline, New South Wales is well on its way towards achieving a sustainable future.

  1. Limondale Solar Farm – https://www.ingersollrand.com/en-au/newsroom/news/2019/01/limondale-solar-farm-announces-major-construction-milestone
  2. Suntop Solar Farm – https://www.escoenergy.com.au/projects/suntop-solar-farm/
  3. Wellington Solar Farm – https://global.escoenergy.com.au/projects/wellington-solar-farm/
  4. Gunnedah Solar Farm – https://frv.com/en/projects/gunnedah-solar-farm/
  5. Griffith Solar Farm – https://www.edsalvato.com/2019/10/15/the-griffith-solar-farm-is-a-nsw-winner/
  6. Finley Solar Farm – https://www.jinkosolar.com/au/projects/Finley-Solar-Farm
  7. Parkes Solar Farm – https://frv.com/en/projects/parkes-solar-farm/
  8. Coleambally Solar Farm – https://neoen.com/projects/coleambally-solar-farm/
  9. Dubbo Solar Hub – https://www.neoen.com.au/projects/dubbo-solar-hub/
  10. Manildra Solar Farm – https://www.solarchoice.net.au/blog/manildra-solar-farm-nsw/

New South Wales has a long history of using renewable energy sources, particularly solar power. The state has some of the highest levels of solar irradiation in Australia, making it an ideal location for solar energy production. The first solar farm in New South Wales was established in 2011 in the town of Nyngan. The farm, which covers an area of around 250 hectares, was developed by AGL Energy and is capable of generating up to 102 MW of power. It was one of the largest solar farms in the world at the time of its construction and was a significant step towards increasing the state’s renewable energy capacity.

Since then, the use of solar power in New South Wales has continued to grow. The state government has implemented a number of policies and initiatives aimed at increasing the use of renewable energy, including solar power. In 2019, the state government announced the development of 14 new solar farms, which are expected to produce a total of 1.4 GW of power. The largest of these farms is the 250 MW Sunraysia Solar Farm, which is located near Balranald.

In addition to large-scale solar farms, many households and businesses in New South Wales have installed solar panels on their roofs. As of 2021, around 470,000 homes and businesses in the state had installed rooftop solar systems. This has helped to reduce their reliance on the grid and has contributed to the state’s growing renewable energy capacity. Overall, New South Wales has made significant strides in the development and use of solar power, and it is expected to continue to play a key role in the state’s energy mix in the future.

 

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Beryl Solar Farm Sold To New Energy Solar

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We’ve written about the Beryl Solar Farm reaching a financial close back in May – now the 87MW (108MW according to the AFR) project has a new owner and is continuing construction. 

Beryl Solar Farm Sold To New Energy Solar

Beryl Solar Farm Sold to New Energy Solar
Beryl Solar Farm Sold to New Energy Solar (source: FirstSolar.com.au)

According to PV Magazine, the farm has been purchased by New Energy Solar – who also bought the 50MW Manildra Solar Farm for $113m last month. Both farms were previously owned by First Solar and the Beryl farm will be using their 420W large-format Series 6 thin film PV modules. Beryl also comes with a 15 year PPA with Transport for NSW – who will purchase 134,000 MWh from Beryl Solar Farm each year – using the power for the Sydney Metro Northwest railway. This long PPA with a AAA rated customer (i.e. the government) makes the farm a great buy in its current shape.

The EPC project was estimated at $150m according to Reuters, but it’s now estimated at $187m. Downer Utilities started work on the project in May and hope to have it finished in mid 2019. The farm will produce enough energy to power 25,000 households and doesn’t require any water for its electricity generation.

New Energy Solar said the cost of the farm won’t be announced but it was pegged to a target for five-year annual average gross yield of 8.2%, in comparison with yield on its existing portfolio of about 6.8% p.a, so by those metrics it looks like a canny purchase. 

New Energy Solar’s CEO, John Martin, discussed how the extra-long 15 year PPA helped get the sale of this project over the line:

“Beryl, New’s second investment in Australia, will further enhance the scale and contracted cashflows of our Australian portfolio,” said Martin. “Following the Manildra acquisition last month, we are delighted to be consolidating our relationship with First Solar through this second sizeable transaction in the Australian market.”

Martin continued to say that ~69% of the energy provided by the Beryl project will go to Transport for NSW – with the rest slated to package up with a 20MWh battery and sold to a corporate customer as commercial solar. 

To learn more about the project from the First Solar website please click here. 

If you’re interested in solar employment and working at the Beryl Solar Farm, please click here to visit the Downer Group’s careers website.

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New Energy Solar raising funds for IPO.

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American based sustainable investment fund New Energy Solar is hoping to raise up to $300m as they prepare to float on the ASX. Applications for the Retail Offer are expected to open this Friday – their prospectus and product disclosure statement was lodged with ASIC last Thursday and anyone looking to invest in the company should start doing their due diligence!

About New Energy Solar

New Energy Solar, established in 2015 and run by John Martin, is an unlisted investment fund that invests in large-scale, cashflow-positive solar power stations. According to the Australian Financial Review, they then sign fixed-price and escalating PPA (purchase power agreements) with customers which are generally for 13-15 years. After the PPA terms expire the plants can re-contract with their customers or sign a new contract with someone else.

The company website notes that they have already generated 189,000MWh of electricity in Q1 and Q2 of 2017 – this represents 105,000 tonnes of displaced CO2 emissions – equivalent to pulling 50,000 cars off the road and powering 44,500 homes. 

New Energy Solar currently has four solar power stations on their books and they hope to use funds raised by the ASX IPO to buy more plants in the United States and also expand into buying solar plants in Australia. 

Their current projects include:

  • North Carolina 43MW Project
  • North Carolina 47MW Project
  • Stanford 67.4MW Project
  • TID 67.4MW Project

A media release said that they are also in binding contracts to purchase 14 more American solar plants, with a total output of 130MW. This will bring New Energy Solar’s total holdings to “a diversified 345MW portfolio of large scale solar power plants underpinned by highly creditworthy off-takers and a weighted average PPA term of 16.4 years”.

John Martin, New Energy Solar CEO was quoted as saying “These high-quality projects and the proposed PPAs with creditworthy off-takers greatly increase our scale as an investor in solar and also enhance the diversity of our portfolio.”

The exact timing of the New Energy Solar IPO is as yet unknown and will depend on how successful it is in the opening stages – we’ll update this article with some progress as soon as we hear any more. It’s exciting to see more private solar investment in Australia and we’ll follow New Energy closely over the coming weeks and months. 

Click here to view their website about the IPO and download the offer document. 

New Energy Solar ASX IPO
New Energy Solar ASX IPO (source: newenergysolar.com.au)

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