{"id":44215,"date":"2020-10-26T06:49:06","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T20:19:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/?p=44215"},"modified":"2020-10-26T06:49:06","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T20:19:06","slug":"goulburn-community-solar-mb1735","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solarquotes.com.au\/blog\/goulburn-community-solar-mb1735\/","title":{"rendered":"$500,000 Raised For Goulburn Community Solar Project"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Goulburn<\/p>\n

Community Energy 4 Goulburn (CE4G) is celebrating after a successful investor information event last Wednesday raised more than half a million dollars for a community solar farm project.<\/p>\n

CE4G was founded in 2014 to support local community renewable energy projects in the Goulburn region of NSW, starting with a 1.2 MW (AC) solar farm proposed for a 2.5 ha site off Bridge St, between Sydney Rd and the railway line.\u00a0Energy storage will also be installed in the form of a 400kW\/800kWh battery.<\/p>\n

Electricity generated by the solar farm may be sold under Power Purchase Agreements, to electricity retailers and through the spot wholesale market through a broker.<\/p>\n

The project has turned out to be marathon rather than a sprint. Back in 2017<\/a>, it was hoped the solar power facility would be built the following year, but that not eventuating didn’t lessen local enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

In the time since, it was decided a co-operative would be the most democratic form of ownership (one vote, regardless of number of shares held) and that was established in the middle of this year – Goulburn Community Energy Cooperative. CE4G will be developing further renewable projects, while the Co-op has been formed to own and run the Goulburn solar farm.<\/p>\n

The project<\/a> has also had significant government backing, being one of seven announced to gain support under the NSW Government’s Regional Community Energy Fund in March this year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Siemens Shown The Door<\/h2>\n

The project<\/a> was in the spotlight again last month after telling inverter manufacturer Siemens that its products won’t be used because of its association with Adani’s coal mine in Queensland.<\/p>\n

“Even though Siemens have the right equipment for our particular application, we can\u2019t see any point in trying to reduce the Goulburn community\u2019s carbon footprint while using equipment from a company which is helping Adani cancel out all our efforts,” stated<\/a> Peter Fraser, president of the Goulburn Community Energy Cooperative.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Investor Event A Great Start<\/h2>\n

The $500,000 raised last Thursday represents a quarter of the investor finance required for the project.<\/p>\n