IT WAS a moment many doubted would ever arrive, so it was with great satisfaction yesterday that work officially began on the region’s first solar farm.
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The first sod was turned in Moree by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) on a $164 million solar farm that’s been a number of years in the development and will be one of the largest in Australia.
The farm is going ahead thanks to a $101.7 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and a loan of $47 million from the Clean Energy Finance
Corporation, with construction expected to be completed by 2016, and 130 jobs to be created during the building phase.
FRV Australian manager Andrea Fontana said it was fantastic to actually get the project underway, and that they were indebted to all those who had worked so hard to get it off the ground.
He admitted though that there were still concerns surrounding the debate around Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) and its potential impact in the future.
“Critical to helping bring this project to fruition is the RET, which requires 41,000 gigawatt hours of Australia’s energy demand be met by renewable energy,” he said yesterday.
“This target is currently under review and we are very hopeful that it will be kept substantially unchanged in order not to deter the success of this project.”
The project has travelled a rocky road and was almost shelved in 2012 when government funding was revoked, before it was offered a lifeline by ARENA.
There’s also been conjecture about the fate of the nation’s renewable energy agencies since last year’s election, but the green light for the project was officially given in August when FRV confirmed the finance had been finalised.
Moree Plains mayor Katrina Humphries believes it’s just the boost the area needs and will reap benefits well into the future.
The town was selected for the project from about 50 other locations around Australia because of it intense levels of solar radiation, the large amount of flat ground available, good transport links, strong community support and proximity to the national electricity grid.
It will be the first large-scale solar plant in Australia to use a single-axle horizontal tracking system, whereby panels follow the sun across the sky to maximise the power output.
