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.
