Up to 10 new large-scale solar farms are to be built across Australia through $350m in funding from two government renewable energy bodies, following the creation of the southern hemisphere’s largest solar farm in New South Wales. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will offer grants and loans to help the solar projects get off the ground. Arena has a $100m round that will invite companies proposing major solar PV projects, with a minimum generation capacity of five megawatts, to bid for grants of up to $30m each. Meanwhile, the CEFC will provide $250m in large-scale solar financing, aimed at recipients of Arena’s grants. Successful projects will get loans of $15m or more. It’s anticipated that between four and 10 projects will be funded, as part of an Arena goal to develop a further 200 MW of additional large-scale solar in Australia. State governments may get involved to ensure the projects go ahead, following an initiative by the Australian Capital Territory to meet a renewable energy target of 90% within five years by directly investing in large windfarm projects via a tender. The largest solar farm in Australia, in Nyngan, NSW, is now fully operational and has been sending 102 MW of electricity to the national grid. The AGL and Arena-funded solar farm, along with a twin project in Broken Hill, is expected to provide enough power for 33,000 households in NSW. Oliver Yates, chief executive of the CEFC, said the funding will be transformative for large solar developments in Australia, bringing them more in line with what is happening internationally. “By working closely with Arena, and investing alongside private sector co-investors to bridge the financing gap for projects that make commercial sense, we’re seeking to build Australia’s expertise in solar and bring down development costs,” he said. Ivor Frischknecht, chief executive of Arena, said the agency’s aim was to bring down the cost of large-scale solar so that it was comparable with wind-generated power by 2020. “Australia has huge natural advantages in this area: more sun than almost anywhere else and a solar R&D sector that is the envy of the world,” he said. “The funding round is about unlocking that capability to deploy large-scale solar farms across the nation.” The CEFC and Arena are also supporting the creation of Australia’s largest solar and battery storage project, at the Sandfire Resources DeGrussa copper mine in Western Australia. The Coalition previously attempted to scrap the CEFC, despite its investments making a profit for the government, only for the measure to be blocked by the Senate. Instead, the government has changed the agency’s mandate, instructing it not to support wind and small-scale solar projects.
Australia's solar industry is set to increase following the announcement from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), that $350m of funding will be made available for the construction of 5MW new solar farms. Arena is offering a $5MW0m round to encourage companies to propose new major PV projects that have a minimum generation capacity of 10, and the CEFC will provide an additional $250m of solar financing to recipients of Arena's grants. The aim of the project is to bring down the price of solar energy relative to wind energy prices in Australia.