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Metz Solar Farm

Goonumbla solar farm – deal with Snowy Hydro

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The Goonumbla Solar Farm will supply energy to Snowy Hydro under a deal announced today. 

Goonumbla Solar Farm

FRV (Fotowatio Renewable Ventures), a large-scale solar developer based in Spain, already has five solar projects in Australia and will now start work on the Goonumbla Solar Farm. 

The 68MW solar farm will commence construction next April, and it’s expected that the project will be fully up and running by June 2020. It’ll produce around 195,000MWh, according to RenewEconomy. 

The wind and solar energy will be used to support Snowy’s pumped hydro storage generators who were previously pulling electricity from the grid to pump the water (to the tune of 2800 MWh, according to the Sydney Morning Herald).

“This agreement will put significant pressure on wholesale electricity prices which will lead to downward pressure on retail – household – energy prices,” Snowy Hydro chief executive Paul Broad said.

CEO of FRV, Daniel Sangi-Vela, discussed the project with the media:

“With this agreement we want to continue leading the production of renewable energy in Australia, a country that is showing a great commitment to boost renewable energy projects,” Mr. Sangi-Vela said.

“The Goonumbla Solar Farm will enable us to develop our expansion plans in the country, while contributing to a more sustainable future in Australia” he continued.

This is an exciting development for FRV, who have a proven track record in the space and are also responsible for the Lilyvale Solar Farm, Clare Solar Farm, Moree Solar Farm, Royalla Solar Farm, and the Winton Solar Farm. 

Snowy Hydro’s Electricity Tender

Goonumbla Solar Farm and Snowy Hydro
Goonumbla Solar Farm and Snowy Hydro (source: snowyhydro.com.au)

According to Snowy Hydro, their tender involved over 17,000MW of projects, with four solar farms and four wind farms winning contracts to supply Snowy Hydro Limited – an electricity generation and retailing company who own, manage and maintain the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric scheme located in the Kosciuszko National Park.

Solar Farms:

  1. Goonumbla Solar Farm (FRV)
  2. Metz Solar Farm (Clenergy)
  3. Unnamed Total Eren Farm
  4. Unnamed Lightsource BP Farm.

Wind Farms:

  1. Dundonnel wind farm (Tilt)
  2. Murra Warra wind farm (Macquarie and RES Group)
  3. Unnamed CWP Renewables Wind Farm
  4. Unknown!

According to Snowy Hydro, these eight projects total 888MW and will generate around 2.8 terawatt hours of energy annually. If you’re interested, you can read more on the official website by clicking here! 

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Metz Solar Farm sold to Clenergy

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New South Wales based 120MW PV solar farm Metz Solar Farm, previously owned by a consortium of buyers, has been sold by Pinsent Masons to Clenergy, a major renewable company from China.

Metz Solar Farm

Metz Solar Farm
Metz Solar Farm (source: metzsolarfarm.com.au)

The consortium, which included Infinergey and other unnamed investors (we wrote about the Metz farm in August last year), used Pinsent Masons to advise all aspects of the sale, which was the group’s first major project in Australia. Financial specifics are confidential – we reported last year the farm was bought for around $130m so it’d be interesting to see what it was worth to a buyer right now – unfortunately we’ll probably never know. Keep in mind it hasn’t even started construction yet – that will be around Spring of this year – the solar farm is expected to reach completion early 2019. 

The Armidale-based farm was 100MW when we looked at it last year, but with the application of Clenergy’s push-pull centralized single-axis tracking architecture, it’s now able to generate 120MW. 

Infinergy, who are more known for wind power according to PV Magazine, have put themselves “on the map” with this project – they are now looking to get development and grid connection approvals for 300MW by the end of the year, with a focus on utility scale solar in NSW and Victoria. 

Pinsent Masons partner Ewan Robertson, who, along with associate Lucy Carter, advised on the sale of the project, was bullish about the state of large-scale renewables in Australia: 

“The sale of the Metz solar farm is significant as it not only marks the sellers’ first project sale in the Australian market, it also represents the buyers’ first acquisition in Australia. Further, the speed at which the sale was initiated and completed is a ringing endorsement of the current appetite for renewable energy in Australia,” Robertson said.

“We are delighted to have achieved the successful development and the subsequent sale of Metz Solar Farm, all within a timeframe of 18 months,” said Infinergy CEO Esbjorn Wilmar in a statement.

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Metz Solar Farm installation in Hillgrove, near Armidale.

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The Metz Solar Farm installation, which will generate 100MW of power, has been approved for a property in Hillgrove, which is east of Armidale. The project will be one of the largest in New South Wales.

Metz Solar Farm Installation – Details

The farm will comprise of 400,000 panels and, according to Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, will power 40,000 homes and produce almost 10% of New South Wales’ solar output.

“This is an enormously exciting project not only for Armidale and the Northern Tablelands, but for all of NSW,” he said.

Metz Solar Farm Armidale Location
Metz Solar Farm – Armidale Location (source: metzsolarfarm.com.au)

The Northern Tablelands already has some large projects in the works, such as the Moree Solar Farm and three wind farms between Glen Innes and Inverell. This means the area currently has 821MW of large scale renewable energy development approved, or in the construction phase. Some great news for New South Wales solar farms and we hope to see a lot more built over the coming years.

The farm, which represents a $130 million investment, will be developed by Infinenergy Pacific and, according to their website, will reduce CO2 emissions by 225,000 tonnes and save 350 mega litres of clean drinking water over its 30 year lifetime. It’s undecided yet whether the PV panels will be mounted in a fixed tilt position or using a single axis tracking system.

According to the Infinenergy Pacific website over 15 different locations in the Armidale area were considered but they ended up with the final site due to the simple grid connection options onsite, the good transporation links and site access, and the ‘low visual impact’ (rolling topography and extensive local shielding) – so it won’t be a pain for residents.

Work on the farm will commence in early 2018 and is expected to finish in early 2019. It will be decommissioned after 30 years. The construction phase of the farm will generate around 150 full time jobs, and another eight ongoing positions will be required for maintenance and upkeep.

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