Late last year, the 300-megawatt Walla Walla Solar Farm received a $100 million funding boost from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, making it the largest solar farm the corporation has ever financed.
Approved by the Independent Planning Commission of NSW in late 2020, the solar farm will consist of around 700,000 solar panels across the 605‐hectare site and produce enough renewable energy to power about 90,000 NSW homes.
ICN NSW is working with Gransolar Construction Australia on construction of the solar farm, located between Albury and Wagga Wagga in southern NSW.
It will connect to the electricity network via an existing transmission line and TransGrid will design and construct an onsite substation.
The solar farm’s photovoltaic (PV) panels will be mounted on a horizontal, single-axis tracking system to allow them to move with the sun. This means they can operate in varying daylight conditions including low light and cloudy weather, making them extremely efficient for generating clean electricity with minimal noise, water consumption or waste.
Once complete, Walla Walla Solar Farm is expected to generate power for up to 30 years.
Work packages include a range of projects relating to:
- single axis tracker PV solar panels, mounted on steel frames at about 4.85 m above ground level at maximum tilt
- 96 inverter containers
- electrical transmission infrastructure and overhead transmission line to connect the solar farm to the existing 330 kV transmission line
- switch room facility
- electrical conduits and transformers
- harmonic filter
- underground cables
- operation and maintenance building
- internal roads and access points
- parking and fencing
- CCTV and SCADA/monitoring systems
- weather stations
- vegetation screening.
Construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2023 and last about 16 to 20 months.
Meanwhile, project owner, FRV Australia has signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft to provide renewable energy from Walla Walla Solar Farm to its data centres in Australia.
For more information, to register for general updates of submit an expression of interest against any work package, go to the Walla Walla Solar Farm gateway page.
