Investec Australia to Build Two Solar Plants in Geraldton and Kalgoorlie

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Perth, Australia)--Investec (Bank) Australia Limited (Perth, Australia), which is headquartered in London, is going to develop two solar photovoltaic (PV) projects with a combined value of $600 million in Western Australia. Investec is proposing the projects be based in Geraldton and Kalgoorlie.

The more advanced of these two projects is the Chapman Solar Farm, which will be built 10 kilometers east of Geraldton, Western Australia. With a total investment value of $180 million, the solar farm is expected to produce 50 megawatts (MW) of electricity. This project initially was targeted to be built as a solar hybrid plant, using a diesel generator as a backup, to produce 45-50 MW of electricity; however, due to several approvals and environmental consents, Investec later decided to build the power plant as standalone solar plant. Investec has secured all development approvals for the project and is currently chasing to complete the final commercial agreements to begin the site preparations and construction. Construction on the power plant is expected to kick off by the end of 2013, with an overall time period of 12-14 months for power plant completion and operation.

The Mungari PV solar power station is another project that was proposed in 2012 by the same company. It will be built in the Mungari Industrial Estate, located in the Shire of Coolgardie, 23 kilometers west of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. The Mungari Solar Project will share the site with Datacentrer Limited, a company that proposed building a large-scale, world-class modular Data Centre. The Estate is currently owned and controlled by Landcorp (Perth, Australia). Investec applied for state government approval to lease the land, which was awarded in June 2012. The approval has allowed Investec to prepare the development application, which is due for submission to the Shire of Coolgardie in this quarter.

Once the development application is approved, Investec will proceed with the remaining approval process to build the solar project, which will become the biggest solar power station in Australia and one of the largest in the world. The project will be built in two stages with a total capacity of 100 MW, and it is expected to cost approximately $400 million. The solar project construction will be established on about 400 hectares of the 700-hectare Mungari Estate.

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