Work Begins On WA’s Northam Solar Farm

Carnegie CEO Michael Ottaviano; Cedric Jacobs, Elderr, Perth Noongar Foundation; and Ben Wyatt, Minister for Energy

A ground breaking ceremony was held yesterday for a solar farm project outside of Northam in Western Australia, which is expected to be operational by October this year.

The 10MW plant is to feature 34,000 solar panels situated on 25 hectares of land and will generate approximately 24,000 megawatt hours of clean electricity a year, while avoiding 17,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions annually.

The ground breaking ceremony was attended by WA Energy Minister, Ben Wyatt.

“Projects such as the Northam Solar Farm illustrate the great potential we have in Western Australia to take advantage of the technological advances in the energy sector,” stated Mr. Wyatt. “This project is particularly exciting because of the opportunities it will provide to local Aboriginal people and businesses as a result of the joint venture.”

The Northam project  is being developed by Carnegie Clean Energy (ASX: CCE) in partnership with Indigenous Business Australia and Bookitja Ptd Ltd. 30 local jobs will be created during the construction phase.

” Bookitja Pty Ltd is excited to be an active party to the Northam Solar Farm,” said Bookitja Director, Karen Jacobs. “As an Aboriginal entity our invested interest in this ground breaking project will continue our focus on building economic growth for our community”.

Carnegie Clean Energy says Northham Solar Farm is the first utility-scale renewable energy project to be developed in Western Australia on a “merchant” basis. Electricity generated by the facility will not be contracted under a long term offtake agreement; instead it will be sold on the wholesale market. It’s also the largest solar energy project Carnegie has developed to date.

Northam is situated approximately 96 kilometres east/northeast of Perth.

Other Recent Solar Announcements From Carnegie

It’s been a busy week or so for Carnegie – on Tuesday the company announced it had secured funding from National Energy Resources Australia (NERA) for the integration of solar power at Eni’s Blacktip Wellhead Platform in the Southern Bonaparte Basin in the Timor Sea.

“Until now, the use of traditional power generation has dominated offshore oil and gas facilities but this project demonstrates the possibilities  and opportunities that can come from integrating renewable energy into offshore assets,” stated NERA CEO Miranda Taylor.

Last week, Carnegie said it secured $2.1 million post-construction debt refinancing from the Commonwealth Bank for its Garden Island Microgrid Project in Western Australia. This is in addition to a $4 million revolving R&D facility from CBA. The Garden Island Microgrid Project consists of a 2MW solar PV array, a 2MW/0.5MWh battery energy storage system and a control system.

Producing both electricity and desalinated water, it will also be the world’s first wave energy integrated microgrid.  The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has previously supported the project with $2.5 million in funding.

Finally, last Monday Carnegie announced it had been successful in an application to negotiate a 10MW solar and 10MWh battery site within the Ancillary Industry Area of the Kemerton Strategic Industrial Area (KSIA), which is approximately 17km north east of Bunbury in Western Australia.