NSW solar farm gets the green light

Large-scale solar power projects are still something of a rarity in Australia, but the green light has been given for the construction of the Capital East Solar Farm in New South Wales.

The integrated solar PV and energy storage facility will be created close to Bungendore after planning approval was granted to Infigen Energy by Palerang Council.

Why is this development so significant? Well it will be the first of its kind in the whole country and the first to be registered in the National Electricity Market.

The facility will be used to trial construction techniques and storage technology, which could serve as an example to future projects.

General manager of development at Infigen David Griffin has high hopes for the solar power plant.

"Whilst the first stage operating solar PV facility will supply enough renewable energy to power approximately 40 average homes, it is primarily being developed as a demonstration facility to support Infigen's entry into large scale solar PV generation and implementation of energy storage technologies," he commented.

David reckons that energy storage will be an important technology when it comes to securing Australia's energy future - especially as there is a growing shift towards renewables.

The availability of large-scale solar could therefore be on the rise - and if a recent poll is anything to go by, this is something that Australians may be particularly happy with.

Research from 100% Renewables recently found that 94 per cent of people are supportive of big solar power systems being installed throughout the country, which is a pretty impressive majority!

Meanwhile, 95 per cent said they want to see governments digging deeper into their pockets to fund the projects - but there is no illusion that most of the funding is likely to come from the private sector.

Posted by Mike Peacock

 

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