Gransolar and ACCIONA partner on Lilyvale Solar Farm

A joint venture between Gransolar (GRS) and ACCIONA Industrial is set to construct the Lilyvale Solar Farm — expected to be one of Australia’s largest photovoltaic plants.

The new plant will be located in Lilyvale, 50 km north-east of the town of Emerald, Queensland. It will cover approximately 396 ha and will consist of 379,260 photovoltaic modules with single-axis tracking systems and 25 transformer centres. It will have a capacity of 100 MWac.

The project will be carried out as a turnkey or EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contract for global solar developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV). Approximately 200 workers will be involved in its construction and, once operational, the plant will supply clean energy to more than 45,000 households in the region, preventing the emission of 175,000 tonnes of CO₂ every year.

“GRS continues to expand internationally, launching its first project in Australia having developed and constructed plants in Europe, America, Africa and the Middle East,” said Domingo Vegas, chairman of Gransolar. “Australia marks an important qualitative step, because it’s a very important market for us with major investment expected in photovoltaic solar energy in the coming years.”

“ACCIONA has a significant presence in Australia, and this project represents another step in our commitment to developing sustainable and innovative infrastructure in the country,” added Ramón Jiménez, managing director of ACCIONA Industrial. “As part of this strategy, at the start of this year ACCIONA acquired Geotech Group, which is also working on Lilyvale through its John Beever Australia business.”

“Lilyvale Solar Farm, along with FRV’s other large-scale solar developments installed or under construction, will contribute around 280 MWac of clean energy capacity and brings the total value of FRV’s solar investments in the Australian renewable energy sector to around $700 million,” said Cameron Garnsworthy, managing director of FRV Australia.

In January, FRV announced it had signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Ergon Energy Retail, the Queensland Government-owned electricity retailer, for 100% of Lilyvale Solar Farm’s electricity and all large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) generated by the solar farm.

Works on the farm have already begun and the project should be completed by the end of 2018.