Elecnor Australia announces expansion of Barcaldine solar farm

Revealed on Sunday in time for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s inspection of the newly-completed project, now described as phase one, Elecnor Australia’s business development manager Manuel Lopez-Velez said 180 hectares of land adjoining the existing 90ha site had been secured and approval to extend the existing development application was being sought.

The recently-completed farm, which has more than 78,000 single axis tracking solar panels, received $22.8m in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency towards the $70m project, but Mr Lopez-Velez said the second stage would be self-funded with the assistance of investors.

He hoped approvals would be granted in time for construction of another 100,000 panels and 10MW of battery storage to begin in December, which he expected would employ 200 people.

Eighty per cent of phase one has been sold to an unnamed investor.

Barcaldine Regional Council mayor Rob Chandler said the latest development meant that a significant amount of energy was beginning to be generated in the region.

In addition to the 75MW from the solar farm, he cited the 35MW available from the gas-fired power station, 15MW that will come from the solar farm at Longreach for which support deeds have just been signed, and an as-yet unnamed 8-10MW solar project on the western side of Barcaldine.

“It will all feed back into the grid. It won’t give us cheaper power but it shows we can get power locally and efficiently,” Cr Chandler said. “We will see isolated communities able to look after landholders with solar rather than poles and wire, which is where the expense has been.”

Described on reneweconomy.com.au as “a fast build”, commentators have said that the speed at which the Barcaldine farm was constructed highlights the potential and growing maturity of Australia’s big solar industry.

As well as providing learnings for other off-grid remote area solar PV projects, the expertise developed for Australian conditions has been acclaimed as benefiting the entire solar sector.

At present the Barcaldine solar farm is pumping half its maximum capacity, or 25MW of power, into the grid, and the Spanish operators expect it to be at maximum capacity of 50MW within the next week.

This is equivalent to an energy consumption of around 9800 households.

Cr Chandler said the first project had been a big boost for town businesses.

“They used a lot of local contractors and labourers, most rentals were full, and there were a lot of people in and out of the pubs,” he said. “This latest news is very exciting.”

The large-scale solar farm announced last year for Longreach moved a step closer to reality last week with the signing of support deeds for it and two other projects, near Collinsville and Oakey.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the projects, and the Coopers Gap wind farm near Kingaroy, whose EIS was last week approved, represented a $700 million investment in energy projects and in regional Queensland jobs.

“The confidence shown in Queensland’s renewable future by these leading energy companies, from overseas and interstate, shows that my government’s policy settings have created an environment ripe for serious and sustainable investment,” she said. “These projects underline the vital role that regional Queensland is already playing in our transition to a renewable energy economy.”

The signing of support deeds secured long-term revenue certainty for the Longreach project, meaning investor funding can be confirmed and construction begun.

Canadian Solar’s General Manager Daniel Ruoss said the $28 million, 15 megawatt Longreach project would employ 30 people during construction.

“We expect to begin construction in May 2017 and be grid connected in early 2018,” he said. “We’ve chosen Queensland for our investment because of its world-class resources, great infrastructure and a forward looking government. Queensland is truly the Sunshine State.”