AGL to Build Two Solar Farms in New South Wales by End of 2014

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Perth, Australia)--The Commonwealth government recently announced $130 million in conditional grants for AGL Energy Limited (AGL) (Sydney, New South Wales) under the 2012 Solar Flagship Program. During 2011, AGL had applied to the program to facilitate funds for Broken Hill and Nyngan solar farms, and the company received the grant approval in June 2012. Conversely, this funding has prioritized solar farms for AGL, diverting plans to build the Silverton windfarm project. The decision also increased speculation about the Australian government's interest in building solar farms that would provide competitive cost benefits over wind energy.

AGL proposed developing the Silverton windfarm, which would become the biggest windfarm in Australia with an estimated capacity of 1.5 gigawatts (GW). According to AGL's initial plan, Silverton is scheduled to commence operations by end of 2013; however, the conditions set under the Solar Flagship Program strained AGL's plan to prioritize the Broken Hill and Nyngan solar projects.

According to Scott Thomas, the general manager for power development for AGL, the company had to adjust the timeframes initially set to avoid the overlap between the Silverton windfarm and the solar farms in Sydney.

AGL planned to build a 53-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) project at Broken Hill and the 106-MW Nyngan solar farm, and lodged an application for funding during early 2011. But the federal government denied this application. Since then, AGL has been working on project reviews and reapplied for the funding. In June 2012, AGL and turnkey provider First Solar Incorporated won $195 million of federal and state government money to build the two solar projects, which have a combined capacity of 159 MW.

Nyngan will be built in New South Wales with 1.2 million First Solar PV panels by end of 2014, with construction commencing in December 2013. AGL is working with First Solar and Sinclair Knight Merz on Broken Hill and Nyngan, and expects to release all equipment and supplier request for qualifications (RFQs) by June 2013. The Broken Hill project is in the same line with Nyngan's timeframe and will be built using 700,000 First Solar PV panels. It will produce 53 MW of electricity when completed.

This funding was granted on a conditional basis, setting up some milestones for project completion and operation, which conversely affected the 1.5-GW Silverton project proposed in New South Wales.

AGL has bought the Silverton windfarm project from the Silverton Wind Farm Developments Limited, a joint venture between EPURON Pty Limited (EPURON) and Macquarie Capital Wind Fund Pty that was established solely to develop, construct and operate Silverton windfarm. The Silverton project has received all the required environmental consents and development approvals during 2008 and 2009. Following AGL's takeover of the project from Silverton, the company has been actively working on obtaining funding from the sources with a view to commissioning the first stage of the project by June 2015, comprising 282 wind turbines and generating up to 849 MW at stage 1. The second stage of the project would comprise 316 wind turbines, producing 950 MW of electricity. About 22 months of construction on stage 2 is expected to begin by October 2015, with completion and operation by May 2017.

View Plant Profile - 3020374 3069381 1075010
View Project Profile - 300026158 300086528 86000828 86000838

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.