A huge soon-to-be-constructed PV power station project in New South Wales will be a very nice score for a solar panel manufacturer.
Construction of Wollar Solar Farm, which is to be built on a site around 50km from Mudgee, is due to commence in December this year. Project owner BJEI Australia1 posted a note on the Wollar web site on Friday stating:
“We will be running a competitive tender process to select the PV module supplier for approximately 355MW of PV modules.”
Suppliers don’t have much time to register their interest, with the EOI closing this Friday.
How Many Solar Panels Is 355MW?
A lot – but the exact number depends on the capacity (power output) of the solar panels. The project web site states around 660,000, which would work out to around 540 watts each. There will be more if lower capacity modules are selected, fewer if a higher capacity is chosen.
A number of manufacturers are already producing solar panels with capacities well exceeding 540 watts. For example, TrinaSolar, Risen Energy and Canadian Solar are cranking out 670W modules. These monster panels aren’t just big on power, but also physical size and weight; so they aren’t suitable for residential rooftops. TrinaSolar’s Vertex 670W is a whopping 2384 x 1303mm and weighs in at a hefty 33.9 kilograms2.
About Wollar Solar Farm
The project location is approximately 7km south of Wollar; an area with a population of just 69 people. The region is in the heart of coal country, with several mines within a 25 kilometre radius.
Of the 878-hectare Wollar Solar Farm site, approximately 461 hectares will be developed for the clean power facility and associated infrastructure. There’s an existing TransGrid 330kV transmission line running across the property in the north eastern corner, which will be utilised to connect the solar farm to the grid.
As we reported back in 2019, there’s also an energy storage aspect to this project that will use lithium-ion batteries, with a capacity of up to 30 MWh.
The project has been on the boards for quite a while – since at least early 2018 – and no doubt the developer is keen to get cracking. But there have been some related works already performed or underway; including access roads and TransGrid began work on a substation late last year.
Wollar Solar Farm is expected to take around 18 months to build and require a workforce of 400 during peak construction activity. Local skills and expertise are to be utilised as much as possible. The facility is expected to have a service life of 30 years.
You can learn more about Wollar Solar Farm here.
Footnotes
- Beijing Energy International (Australia) Holding Pty Ltd. The parent company, BJEI, had 104 renewable energy plants with total installed capacity of approximately 4,168MW in its portfolio as at the end of last year. ↩
- Trina also have some powerful panels in the Vertex family compatible with residential rooftops – such as the Vertex S and Vertex S+. ↩
About Michael Bloch
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