First panels installed at Broken Hill PV plant

The first of around 650,000 panels has been installed at AGL Energy’s $150 million Broken Hill solar photovoltaic (PV) plant - part of the $440 million AGL Solar Project. The project is supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and NSW Government.

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said construction at the Broken Hill plant is well underway, “with all of the module-holding posts and brackets installed and supporting electrical connection works complete”. The eventual 53 MW plant will power up to 17,000 homes with renewable energy, he noted.

Broken Hill is “an ideal location for a solar power plant”, according to Frischknecht. He said, “It has one of the highest levels of solar radiation in NSW and a nearby existing substation for effective connection into the National Electricity Market.”

Frischknecht added that the plant is benefiting the local community. He stated, “Half of the 85 people currently working on the Broken Hill site are from the local region, with the workforce expected to rise to approximately 150 during peak construction.”

The AGL Solar Project also includes a plant in the town of Nyngan, where the final solar panel was successfully installed last month. Frischknecht said the Broken Hill plant is “already benefiting from lessons learned at Nyngan” and AGL “plans to draw on the knowledge of employees who worked on Nyngan to assist with training and continuous improvement for Broken Hill and future solar projects”.

The Broken Hill plant is scheduled for completion later this year, following the completion of the Nyngan plant in July.

Source