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Summerhill solar farm commences construction.

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The 5MW Summerhill solar farm will officially commence construction tomorrow – the farm will be located at the former Wallsend Borehole Colliery. 

Summerhill solar farm

Summerhill Solar Farm
Summerhill Solar Farm – Artist’s Rendition (source: smh.com.au)

All the renewable energy created by the Summerhill solar farm will be owned by the Newcastle City Council who will then be approximately 50% powered by renewable energy. 

Carnegie’s wholly owned subsidiary Energy Made Clean and JV partner Lendlease have been awarded the design and construction of the project, according to PV Magazine. It’ll be built on top of the former Wallsend Borehole Colliery. Read more about the tender here. 

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the solar plant’s cost is around $8m, with $6.5m of this provided in the form of a loan by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Initial modelling shows that this plant will save around $350,000 per annum, also noting that the city council’s cost of electricity has double over the past few years – making this a very attractive option to help offset the highly volatile wholesale price of electricity. It’s listed as ‘battery ready’ according to the Altenergy website. 

Nuatali Nelmes, the Lord Mayor of Newcastle, discussed the project in a media statement:

“The solar farm will produce enough energy to run the equivalent of all of our council facilities during the day, which represents significant environmental returns for ratepayers and millions of dollars in savings on electricity costs,” Mayor Nelmes said.

Further discussion shows that, although financial ramifications are very important, the eco-friendly nature of the project was ‘more than just money’:

“While cost savings are certainly a critical factor in our decision to build the solar farm, sustainability initiatives are about more than just money and our community expects us to be good environmental stewards,” Ms Nelmes continued.

This is a fantastic attitude and we look forward to seeing how well the SUmmerhill solar farm performs for the Newcastle City Council. More top news for council solar, which has been growing in leaps and bounds over the last 18 months. 

Read some more articles about council solar below!

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Melbourne Water Solar Tenders

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Melbourne Water has announced a tender for two solar systems so they’re able to power to water treatment plans. Expressions of interest are now welcome.

Melbourne Water Solar Tenders

Melbourne Water Solar Tender
Melbourne Water Solar Tender

State-owned Melbourne Water have announced that they want to be carbon neutral by 2030,so this is a step in the right direction. The expressions of interest are for design, construction, and operation of two solar facilities at the Eastern Treatment Plant (ETP) in Carrum Downs, and also the Winneke Water Treatment Plant in the Yarra Valley. 

This is a “practical way for Melbourne Water to cut its greenhouse gas emissions, and tackle climate change”, according to the utility. 

According to the tender, the systems will need >30 gigawatt-hours per year for the ETP, and 12GWh from Winneke. The ETP treats approximately 330 million litres of sewage a day – which is 40% of Melbourne’s total sewage. This is an extremely energy intensive task so it’s fantastic to see the utility come up with a plan to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2030. Australia’s solar power future is looking bright!

The official website has a link to the Expression of Interest with some interesting quotes:

“Melbourne Water is committed to reducing its net carbon emissions to zero by 2030.

The proposed solar farms are one initiative designed to help meet this ambitious goal and will play a role alongside other projects including hydro-power stations and the transition of Melbourne Water’s car fleet to zero emissions vehicles” the tender reads.

We’ve seen plenty of council solar over the last year and it’s fantastic to see state governments also working hard on minimising Australia’s carbon footprint.

Expressions of interest to provide solar power to Melbourne Water will close on November 27. The company are hoping to make their choice by May of 2019.

For further information please call 1800 931 978 or email via [email protected]

 

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Victorian Renewable Energy Targets Reverse Auction

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The first renewable energy auction in Victoria has had a fantastic result – with over 900MW of wind/solar energy to be generated as part of the Victorian Renewable Energy Targets.

Victorian Renewable Energy Targets Reverse Auction

A reverse auction was held to generate >650MW of energy. That goal has been hammered – with the auction ending up with 928MW of renewable projects to generate $1.1 billion of economic investment in regional Victoria and create more than 900 jobs, including 270 apprenticeships and traineeships. 

Victorian Renewable Energy Targets -The Hon. Lily D'Ambrosio MP (source: Wikipedia)
Victorian Renewable Energy Targets -The Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio MP (source: Wikipedia)

The six successful projects were announced by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio at the Ararat Wind Farm today. Premier Andrews discussed this 

“It’s simple – greater supply of renewable energy means lower power prices and more jobs for Victorian families.”

“We’re making Victoria the capital of renewable energy and supporting the thousands of local jobs it creates.”

Lily D’Ambrosio was similarly effusive in praising the project, even working in a little jab at the Liberals who were trying to ‘shut this industry down’:

“Renewable energy creates jobs, drives growth, and protects our environment – and most importantly, helps drive down power prices for Victorian households and businesses.”

“In contrast to the Liberals who tried to shut this industry down, we’re backing renewable investment and renewable jobs.”

Those six farms are:

  • Berrybank Wind Farm west of Geelong, which will produce 180MW
  • Carwarp Solar Farm south of Mildura, which will produce 121.6MW
  • Cohuna Solar Farm north-west of Echuca, which will produce 34.2MW
  • Dundonnell Wind Farm north-east of Warrnambool, which will produce 336MW
  • Mortlake South Wind Farm south of Mortlake, which will produce 157.5MW
  • Winton Solar Farm near Benalla, which will produce 98.8MW

According to the official press release on the Victorian Government website, more than $1.3b will be invested for solar panels, solar hot water, and battery schemes. This will help over 700,000 households via the Solar Homes scheme which will go ahead with a re-elected Andrews Labor government. 

If you’re interested in reading more about the solar battery rebates in Victoria please click. 

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Solar Bench | Warners Bay, Lake Macquarie

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A solar bench has been installed on the Warners Bay foreshore in Lake Macquarie – it is fully self contained and can wirelessly recharge compatible phones.

Solar Bench in Lake Macquarie

Solar Bench in Lake Macquarie
Solar Bench in Lake Macquarie (source: lakesmail.com.au)

The smart solar bench was installed by the Lake Macquarie City Council and has the future capacity to act as a WiFi hotspot, according to Lakes Mail. 

Manager of community planning for the Lake Macquarie City Council, Andrew Bryant, discussed the potential future rollout of further solar benches if this one is a success:

“This is a fully self-contained unit. It provides seating for up to four adults, and solar panels beneath the transparent bench seat can produce up to 100W of electrical power every hour – enough to charge mobile phones, tablets and other smart devices,” Mr Bryant said. He went on to discuss the future of renewables and how quickly tech is coming along:

“This sort of thing would have been science fiction just a few years ago, but users with compatible phones can simply place them on a designated area of the bench to activate recharging,” Mr Bryant said.

Lastly, Mr. Bryant discussed the future-proofing the council and manufacturer have built into the bench so they’re able to upgrade it in the future:

“The internal mechanisms are designed to be upgraded depending on our future needs,” Mr Bryant said.

“We will monitor its use and the needs of the community and will make a decision on these capabilities down the track.”

We’ve reached out to the Lake Macquarie Council to ask about the brand of hte solar benches, but it appears that they’re made by European company Steora:

Back in 2017 Perth had Steora smart benches installed by Australian distributor Cleanair, who came across the tech in Croatia. GM of Cleanair, Ivan Lozic, discussed how they want to harness as much solar power as possible through unconventional means as well as panels:

“Perth has such a great solar resource, so the more we can give residents the opportunity to harness it the better,” Mr Lozic said. If you want to read more about Perth solar benches please click here.

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Darling Downs Solar Update | Jobs, Farms & More

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Darling Downs solar is helping the area by providing jobs to locals and kickstarting the economy – with one council already approving $6b worth of wind and solar projects. There’s now a ‘buzz’ around the Darling Downs and renewable energy – let’s take a look at what they have in the pipeline!

Darling Downs Solar 

Darling Downs Solar Farm
Darling Downs Solar Farm (source: Origin Energy)

“We’ve got $1.2 billion of that under construction now, and that’s the exciting thing, this isn’t just about approvals, this is about action to deliver renewable energies to this region,” Western Downs Regional Council mayor Paul McVeigh said in comments to the ABC. 

“And we know there are another three [solar farms] in the pipeline.”

In Warwick, the 154,000 megawatt-hour generating UQ / Warwick Solar Farm is to be installed on ‘good agricultural land’ has had to wage a battle against NIMBY detractors. Mayor Tracy Dobie defended her decision (she had the deciding vote to allow the farm DA):

“This region is about growth and development and we can sit here and go poor slowly or we can progress our region and the more development we can get in our region the more jobs,” Ms Dobie said.

“The more progress we can make, the better off we are.”

Mayor Dobie continued to discuss the project and what she sees the future of renewable energy in the Darling Downs as looking like:

“This is a turning point in our region to show we are moving forward, that we are looking to the future, and there is nothing more evident than that than renewable energy.

“There’s a buzz about the Darling Downs, this is a great place to be and great time to be here.”

Toowoomba Solar

There’s been an amazing amount of renewable energy movement in Toowoomba – with the billion dollar project at Bulli Creek approved by the Tooowoomba Council. This will be built by Solar Choice over a 10 year staggered period. 

Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio spoke about the concerns some residents may have and why he’s happy to continue approving solar farms:

“I guess we have to be a bit cautious of the type of land we put it on, but in saying that, the land is restorable, its not going to be destroyed in any mining effort or anything like that, and in 20, 30, 40 years’ time that land will be back to full production.”

Have a look at the short video below from ABC Landline which was part of an article about using ‘good farmland’ for solar farms. 

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