FRV’s Goonumbla solar farm completed in NSW, to supply Snowy Hydro

Construction of the Goonumbla solar farm, developed by international renewable energy company FRV near Parkes in New South Wales and contracted to supply NSW gen-tailer Snowy Hydro, has been completed.

FRV said on Wednesday that all construction works at the 69.75MW AC project had now been completed, and the grid-connected solar farm was in the commissioning process that will lead it to produce around 195,000MWh a year – enough to power more than 45,000 households.

Goonumbla is one of eight wind and solar projects that formed part of the landmark deal for cheap and “firmed” renewables for government-owned retailer Snowy Hydro.

The 15-year power purchase deal with eight solar farms contracted a total of 888MW of capacity to Snowy Hydro, which in turn aims to deliver – with the help of its existing hydro plants – “firm” renewables at a cost of well below $70/MWh.

FRV, now part of the Saudi-based corporation Abdul Latif Jameel,  said last year that it expected the Goonumbla solar farm to have a capacity factor of around 33 per cent.

FRV’s managing director in Australia, Carlo Frigerio, said the company was glad to successfully deliver on the contract – its first PPA with Snowy Hydro.

“[This] proves that a consolidated player like FRV is capable of delivering top quality solar farms notwithstanding the increased challenges in the Australian renewable energy market and generally in a moment of global turmoil,” Frigerio said.

Snowy Hydro CEO Paul Broad welcomed the news of Goonumbla’s completion: “As part of the ongoing commitment of Snowy Hydro to supporting the growth of renewables in Australia, we have contracted over 1,000MW of clean, green energy projects, Goonumbla being one of those transactions,” he said.

“To complement the deployment of intermittent renewables technologies into the grid and to help firm them up, we are committed to the development of the 20,00MW pumped storage hydro Snowy 2.0 project which is moving full steam ahead.

“We look forward to working with FRV on further renewables projects and being able to take this renewable energy and sell it to commercial and industrial customers who are seeking cost-effective, long term clean energy contracts,” Broad said.