$6m Federal funding for Goldwind’s White Rock Solar Farm at Glen Innes

16 Sep 2016

 

 

  • $6 million for White Rock Solar Farm;
  • Expected to generate 46,000 megawatt hours of electricity in the first year of operation;
  • Development is a pioneering hybrid solar/wind renewable generation energy facility.

 

The Deputy Prime Minister and Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce has welcomed the Federal Government’s funding announcement of $6 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), for Goldwind Australia’s White Rock Solar Farm proposal, near Glen Innes.

 

Mr Joyce said White Rock Solar Farm is planned to be a 20 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant located adjacent to the northern end of White Rock Wind Farm, 18 km west of Glen Innes.

 

The development is a pioneering hybrid solar/wind renewable energy facility for the New England Tablelands. It is expected to generate around 46,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity in the first year of operation, enough to supply the equivalent of approximately 7,200 average NSW homes. The project is an investment of $45M with $6M expected to come from this grant.

 

Mr Joyce took part in an official earth-turning in April for the beginning of construction of the White Rock wind farm, which will be home to New South Wales’ largest wind farm, producing renewable energy to power 75,000 homes.

 

White Rock Solar Farm is one of twelve projects to be awarded a grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) large-scale solar competitive funding round.

 

In response to the ARENA large scale solar program, the project was accelerated and the development consent was secured in mid-June 2016. With the award of the ARENA grant, the project can now look towards commencing construction in early 2017 and being fully operational by the end of 2017.

 

White Rock Solar Farm is designed to benefit from sharing part of the wind farm infrastructure, including the grid connection, access tracks and some internal electrical cabling.

 

The opportunity to share wind farm infrastructure maximises the use of available facilities without requiring construction of additional facilities elsewhere and co-location of the project potentially unlocks over $5 million of savings.

 

Fast facts

  • Australia is set to triple its large scale solar energy capacity.
  • ARENA stated that 12 projects will share $92 million.
  • Qld will have six solar projects, NSW has 5 and WA, 1.
  • If all projects proceed the 12 ventures will deliver an extra 480 megawatts and drive $ billion of investment in regional Australia.
  • White Rock Solar Farm, 20 Megawatt, ARENA funding $6 million, total Project cost $44.5m.
  • Goldwind will also construct the 175MW White Rock Wind Farm utilising 70 of its advanced technology 2.5MW wind turbines.
  • Goldwind Wind Farm when completed will be producing renewable energy to power 75,000 homes.
  • The Wind Farm project will employ up to 200 people during the construction phase and generating 10 full-time positions over a 20 year period. 

 

Caption: Deputy Prime Minister and Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, Goldwind Australia Pty Ltd Managing Director, John Titchen and Minister for the Environment and Energy, Josh Frydenberg.

 

 

 

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