Australia’s largest solar and battery storage project to date is getting a helping hand from the CEFC and ARENA, plus the ACT has announced a new wind power auction.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation announced yesterday it is committing up to $15 million in finance towards the development of a $40 million, 10.6MW solar power plant with 6MW of battery storage at Sandfire Resources’ DeGrussa copper mine; a project we reported on in February.
Additionally, the project is also being supported by a grant of $20.9 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).
More than 34,000 solar panels will provide the majority of Sandfire’s daytime electricity requirements, avoiding the consumption of approximately 5 million litres of diesel annually.
“This is an important project showing the significant potential for off-grid renewables in regional and remote Australia,” said CEFC CEO Oliver Yates. “The solar and battery storage combination offers the opportunity to reduce the reliance on diesel-powered energy in remote area mining.”
ARENA says similar projects could be viable without government subsidies in the near future.
“Renewables are already competitive with fossil fuels in many off-grid applications, offering a strong, secure and reliable alternative to trucked-in diesel,” said ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht.
In other Australian renewable energy news in the last 24 hours relating to major projects, the ACT Government has announced it will be holding a second large-scale wind auction by the end of this year
Minister for the Environment Simon Corbell said the Government would be “seeking strong and competitive prices,” plus a high level of corporate social responsibility; e.g. community engagement and economic development.
Speaking at the Australian Clean Energy Summit in Sydney, Minister Corbell also encouraged states and territories to move ahead with their own large-scale feed-in tariff laws and to avoid relying on Federal Government to set policy for renewables.
“…. just this week we have been reminded of the hostile attitude held by the federal government towards the development of renewable energy in Australia,” Mr Corbell said.
“We have seen through the ACT’s experience in pioneering large-scale feed in tariff laws and the award winning reverse auction process that we can lock in some of the best value for money clean energy generation available in Australia.”
The ACT is expected to source 65% of its electricity requirements from renewables supported by feed in tariffs by 2017. Minister Corbell says the Territory is on track to achieving its 90% renewable energy target.
