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Greenough Solar Farm has has 150,000 thin film solar panels across an 80 ha site
22/10/2012
Australia switches on largest solar plant
Partners evaluate quadrupling its size
Helen Tunnicliffe
AUSTRALIA’S largest solar plant to date, the 10 MW Greenough River Solar Farm, near Geraldton, Western Australia, has been officially opened by Australia’s energy minister Peter Collier.
Verve Energy, which is owned by the state government, and General Electric (GE) are running the plant as a 50:50 joint venture. It has 150,000 thin film solar panels, supplied by First Solar, across an 80 ha site, and will generate the equivalent energy requirements of 3,000 homes, saving 20,000 t/y of carbon emissions. The electricity produced by the plant will be bought by the WA Water Corporation to power its Southern Seawater Desalination Plant.
The joint venture partners have contracted First Solar to provide operations and maintenance services for the plant for the next 15 years.
The plant is the first utility-scale solar plant in Australia and marks GE’s first investment in renewable energy in Australia. The company hopes to increase investment in the sector. Verve Energy CEO Jason Waters says that the electricity produced is cost-competitive and the joint venture partners are already hoping to expand the plant.
“With this landmark project now complete, partners Verve Energy and GE Energy Financial Services are now evaluating the possibility of expanding the plant to up to 40 MW to satisfy growing demand for renewable energy,” says Waters.
