This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CONSTRUCTION is underway at Pacific Partnerships’ Glenrowan Solar Farm, which promises to generate enough renewable energy to power around 45,000 homes.
The 245-hectare 102-megawatt (MW) solar farm in Victoria’s north east, sitting 2km out from the town of Glenrowan and around 236km north-east of Melbourne, is the first project to begin construction supported by the second Victorian Renewable Energy Target Auction (VRET2).
“The Glenrowan Solar Farm will help power our transition to 95 per cent renewable electricity by 2035, while creating jobs across the North East,” said Ingrid Stitt, minister for environment.
VRET2 will see the government support six projects totalling 623 MW of new renewable generation capacity and up to 365 MW and 600 megawatt-hours (MWh) of new battery energy storage.
The initiative is expected to drive investment, local employment and crucially help Victoria meet its goal of sourcing 100% renewable electricity for all state government operations by 2025.
Construction at Glenrowan Solar Farm will support 150 full-time jobs, with the VRET2 program expected to create 920 direct jobs across its entirety.
The program is also projected to attract $1.48 billion in investment into new renewable energy projects, with $1 billion of this being invested back into local supply chains during construction.
“This project is great for local jobs – it puts North East Victoria at the forefront of our renewable energy transition,” said Jaclyn Symes, member for Northern Victoria.
VRET2 is part of the state government’s renewable energy target of 95% by 2035, which should create 59,000 clean energy jobs across the state.
“Our Victoria’s historic VRET2 auction is helping to supply all Victorian Government operations with 100 per cent clean renewable electricity by 2025 – and it will attract billions of dollars of investment into regional Victoria,” added Lily D’Ambrosio, minister for energy and resources.
Pacific Partnerships, a subsidiary of CIMIC Group, also announced financial close on the project this week, after signing the 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the state government.
“Securing a long-term VRET2 support agreement with the state of Victoria for clean power from the Glenrowan Solar Farm has been instrumental in giving the certainty needed to secure the connection agreements, regulatory approvals as well as construction and operations contracts to achieve financial close,” said Simon Nicholls, managing director at Pacific Partnership.
Pacific Partnerships Energy will develop and managed the solar farm, with CIMIC Group and UGL overseeing construction, operations and maintenance at the site.
