Yarranlea Solar Farm Construction Commences

Construction activity started on the weekend at the site of what will be the 121- megawatt Yarranlea Solar Farm, west of Toowoomba in Queensland.

The Australian arm of Risen Energy acquired the Yarranlea Solar Farm project in February this year .

More than 200 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the facility, which will see approximately 400,000 Risen Energy solar panels installed at the site. Battery storage of yet undetermined capacity will also be integrated at some point, with two storage technologies currently being assessed for the project; lithium-ion and zinc bromide flow batteries.

“This is Risen Energy’s first of many company-owned solar developments in Australia,” said Risen’s Project Development & Investment Director John Zhong. “The 121 megawatts Yarranlea Solar Farm will be constructed using as many local resources as possible including labour, equipment, contractors and accommodation.”

Risen Energy is funding 100% of the project without finance and there’s no power purchase agreement (PPA) contract associated with the output. Risen has chosen to “go merchant”, selling the electricity generated and large-scale renewable energy certificates on the spot market.

The Yarranlea Solar Farm site is 250 hectares of farmland approximately 50 kilometres from Toowoomba. At the end of the facility’s service life, all physical infrastructure will be decommissioned and the land returned to agricultural production.

It’s expected the power station will be operational within 12 months.

Yarranlea Solar Farm will connect to the National Electricity Market, (NEM) via the Yarranlea zone substation. It’s estimated the project will generate 264 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean electricity a year and avoid approximately 124,000 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

Risen Energy Co., Ltd was founded in 1986. Its headquarters are in Ninghai, Zhejiang province, China. The company also has a physical office in Australia; in Mount Waverley in Victoria, and has been active here since 2008.

According to the company, it has more than 6,500 employees globally and is the seventh-largest solar panel supplier in the world.

“Risen Energy’s investment in Queensland is another important step in securing the state’s solar investment boom and its renewable economy,” stated Queensland Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham.

Last week we reported investment value in large-scale solar projects in Queensland represented more than half of the national total. According to the Clean Energy Council, 20 projects are either under construction, would soon commence or had already been completed in Queensland this year. The state’s government says there are 56 large-scale solar projects currently in the approvals or construction phase.