There’s a new type of farming on the increase in Australia.
Ask about farming in Australia and the answer is usually about cattle or sheep. But a new type of farming is gaining ground, one that involves power generation via hundreds of thousands of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules installed on tens of thousands of steel posts. When sunlight strikes these solar panels, they generate direct current (DC) electricity, which is then converted into the alternating current (AC) that most of us use at home and at work.
Large scale solar energy farming with PV systems is big business – fast becoming one of the most cost-effective renewable energy sources on the planet. Receiving more average solar radiation per square metre than any other continent thanks to its vast desert areas, Australia is well positioned to be at the forefront of energy transition as organisations around the world increasingly seek to divest fossil fuels in favour of a sustainable, clean energy mix.
With more than 10 gigawatts installed worldwide, First Solar is the leading global provider of PV energy solutions, and we’ve helped them to increase their energy production in Australia while reducing operating costs. Solar power stations we’ve already worked on:
- Greenough River – the first utility-scale photovoltaic project in Australia, which fuels the electricity grid powering the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant in Western Australia.
- Gatton – (3MW) – one of Australia’s largest solar energy research facilities, located in Queensland.
- Nyngan (102MW) and Broken Hill (53MW) in New South Wales.
As First Solar’s consultant in Australia, we advised on meeting Australian standards and aligning with the federal government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme, and delivered engineering design and review on all their solar farming projects.
The largest to date was Nyngan, with 1,350,000 PV modules installed on 150,000 steel posts across 250 hectares. Currently the largest solar farm in Australia, its electricity generation capacity can meet the needs of approximately 33,000 homes. With farms as effective as this one, solar must surely have a bright future.
Compounding our expertise in the renewable energy sector, Beca has also consulted on large scale wind farm and big battery projects across Australia and New Zealand. To find out more, see our work on an Australian wind farm with capacity sufficient for powering 80,000 homes, or explore the full spectrum of our renewable energy solutions.