Solar farm on the fringe

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) this week announced $8.4 million to support Canadian Solar and Scouller Energy in the construction of a 5 MW DC (4.5 MW AC) solar farm near Normanton, North West Queensland.

ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said Normanton is a regional community on the fringe of a major electricity network, with power generated in Rockhampton and then fed across more than 1000 km of transmission lines to the Normanton area.

“Electricity transmitted over long distances typically experiences significant losses along the way,” he noted.

Normanton Solar Farm will thus add renewable energy closer where it’s needed, said Frischknecht, providing more reliable and efficient power. It will be jointly owned by Canadian Solar and Scouller Energy, the former of which has been contracted to construct the solar plant, while network provider Ergon Energy has signed a power purchase agreement to buy electricity from the plant.

Frischknecht said Ergon Energy will work with Canadian Solar and Scouller Energy to analyse and report on the network impacts of operating the plant. Acting as a test case, the plant will “provide a starting point to explore regulatory changes that would support more renewable energy installations in fringe-of-grid locations across Australia”, he said.

“This will allow energy distribution businesses to consider whether it’s feasible to compensate large-scale solar plants for the network benefits they provide,” Frischknecht continued.

“This could make large-scale solar plants more competitive and encourage more project developments, potentially increasing solar uptake and benefiting local communities where these projects can positively impact on the grid.”

Normanton Solar Farm is scheduled for completion in December 2016.

Originally published here.