“Full-circle moment:” Engie starts work on first Victorian solar farm since Hazelwood closure

The first sod has been turned on the 250 MW Goorambat East solar farm near Benalla in northern Victoria, while another 99MW PV project has been completed in nearby Shepparton – a winner of the state Labor government’s reverse auction program back in 2018.

Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio marked both occasions on Thursday, including a ceremony near Goorambat to mark construction of the first large-scale renewables project in the state for French giant, Engie, since the 2017 closure of its Hazelwood coal plant.

Originally developed by fellow French giant, Neoen, Engie stepped in in December 2023 to buy the Goorambat East solar farm, taking it to financial close in August of this year.

Engie Australia managing director of renewables, Laura Caspari, said on Thursday that construction of the project was proceeding as planned and would make an important contribution to the company’s ambitions in one of its “key foothold states.”

“We expect construction and commissioning of Goorambat East Solar Farm to be finished in 2026, helping to advance our goal of delivering 3 GW of renewable energy in Australia by 2030,” Caspari said at the sod-turning event.

“Goorambat East is an optimal project with an excellent solar resource and access to existing transmission infrastructure – it also has a great network of near neighbours and community members that we’ve been working with.

“Engie has been operating in Victoria since 1996 and today has a significant retail presence, an important rehabilitation project and 150MW/ 150MWh battery at Hazelwood, and a pipeline of renewable energy developments.

“It will be a gratifying, full-circle moment to build on our legacy and operate clean energy assets here,” Caspari said.

Engie says the Goorambat East solar farm will create around 250 jobs in construction and should be up and running in 2026.

In Shepparton, D’Ambrosio also visited the 99MW Winton solar farm, developed by Fotowatio Renewable Ventures, which has recently completed its commissioning after getting a start in the first round of the Victoria Renewable Energy Target (VRET1) auctions.

“Victoria’s future is renewable and the more renewable energy generation that comes online the more downward pressure is put on power bills for Victorians,” D’Ambrosio said.

“It’s great to see companies like ENGIE invest in renewable energy generation projects in Victoria following the closure of their Hazelwood coal fired power generator in 2017.”