Electricity supply in New South Wales is set to be boosted with the construction of a new $100 million 42MW solar farm in Manildra.
The solar farm will generate more than 120,000 megawatt-hours of clean electricity a year or enough to supply up to 14,000 homes.
First Solar will deliver the project, which will use 466,000 thin-film photovoltaic modules and NEXTracker single-axis tracking technology.
First Solar has entered a 13-year power purchase agreement with EnergyAustralia for the electricity and large-scale generation certificates from the project. The Manildra Solar Farm is also supported by a $9.8 million grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
EnergyAustralia Managing Director Catherine Tanna said customers rightly expect access to reliable, affordable and cleaner supplies of energy.
“The Manildra Solar Farm is a great example of the projects that will underpin the future of energy in Australia and we’re proud to be partnering with First Solar to bring it to market,” Ms Tanna said.
Manildra is one of the 12 projects announced in September 2016 under ARENA’s large-scale solar round which will deliver 480 megawatts of new renewable energy capacity.
The Manildra Solar Farm is expected to boost the regional economy through the creation of direct and indirect jobs and support for local businesses.
Once complete, the project will have the capacity to power around 14,000 average homes and displace more than 91,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year – that’s like taking about 24,000 cars off the road.
The Manildra solar farm is expected to be completed in 2018.