ORIGIN Energy has signed a landmark agreement with the new solar farm in Moree to purchase all its power for the next 15 years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Developed by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), it’s the largest single-axis tracking solar farm in the country and began feeding energy back into the grid in February.
The farm, which will generate enough energy to supply 24,000 households, was funded with the assistance of a $102 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and $47 million in debt financing from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
ARENA yesterday congratulated the developers on the power purchase contract, saying it had brought to fruition the project’s commercial potential.
Chief executive officer Ivor Frischknecht said the Moree solar farm had encouraged ARENA and the CEFC to move forward with its current funding round for more large-scale solar projects across the country.
ARENA is providing $100 million in grants and the CEFC $250 million in loans for eligible projects.
“The round was made possible through the experience we gained in supporting the solar farm at Moree and other large-scale solar projects, such as those located in Nyngan and Broken Hill,” he said.
“The commercial success of these first-of-a-kind projects for Australia provided ARENA with confidence that the funding round could result in large-scale solar reaching commercial viability in Australia in the next five years.”
Anthony Roberts, Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy, also welcomed the announcement, saying it reinforced the state’s credentials as a solar leader “not only in Australia but the Southern Hemisphere”.
“NSW now holds the three largest solar farms in Australia with the 102 MW Nyngan Solar Plant and the 53 MW Broken Hill Solar Plant constructed as solar flagship projects and now the Moree Solar Farm generating 56MW,” he said.
Frank Calabria, Origin Energy’s chief executive officer (energy markets) said under the deal, the company had contracted for 100 per cent of the electricity generated and 100 per cent of the Renewable Energy Certificates created from the Moree project, helping Origin meet its obligations under the federal government’s Renewable Energy Target.
