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Maoneng eyes 200MW solar farm after completing ACT solar park

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The 13MW Mugga Lane solar park.

Renewable energy developer Maoneng Group has completed and formally opened its 13MW solar park in the ACT, and has now turned its sights on a 200MW project in western NSW and a large battery storage installation.

The Mugga Lane solar farm was officially opened by ACT climate minister Shane Rattenbury on Thursday, the second major solar farm to be completed after the 20MW Royalla solar farm. A smaller solar farm, also part of the ACT’s 100 per cent renewable energy target for 2020, is under construction.

Maoneng Group – an Australia Chinese consortium –  is now turning its sights on to the 200MW Sunraysia solar project near Balranald in western NSW, and to a possible large scale battery storage component at that site. The company is still to secure council and government planning approvals.

Maoneng Group executive chairman Morris Zhou said construction at Sunraysia was expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year, and was one of many “mega projects” planned in the next few years. The company was looking to 1GW of large scale solar in Australia over the next 6 years.

“No one can whistle a symphony, it takes a whole orchestra to play it. We look forward to working closely with our industry partners like we have for Mugga Lane Solar Park.”

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

Giles Parkinson

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.

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