First power sent to grid from Italian giant’s newest solar farm in Victoria

The 93 megawatt (MW) Girgarre solar farm in northern Victoria has sent its first small bursts of power to the grid, although it may not be operating at full capacity until next year.

Italian energy company Enel Green Power announced the milestone on LinkedIn on Thursday and says the project’s commissioning phase is well underway at the project site around 10km north-west of Stanhope and 50km west of Shepparton.

“We’re on track to be fully operational by early 2025,” the LinkedIn post says. “This achievement wouldn’t be possible without our incredible team, alongside our partners and contractors. Huge thanks to everyone for their hard work and dedication in making this project a reality, safely and efficiently.”

Construction of the $140 million solar farm began in September of 2023, led by Victorian based EPC contractor Beon. The installation of the final solar panel was announced in mid-May.

Girgarre is the company’s fourth completed solar project in Australia, following the first two stages of the Bungala solar farm in South Australia, which together make 220 MW and still the largest solar facility in the state, and the smaller 34 MW Cohuna solar farm in Victoria.

Enel has also branched out into wind energy, buying the Flat Rock wind project in Western Australia, and recently signed a contract to purchase stage three of the Bungala project which has connection approvals for a big battery project.

It is also developing one of the first true solar and battery hybrid projects, Quorn Park near Parkes in NSW, and has landed finance for that $190 million project.

Once the project is fully operational, the electricity it generates will be made available to commercial and industrial businesses around the country through a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Japanese-owned electricity retailer SmartestEnergy that was signed in late 2023.