NSW approves 60MW solar farm for Narrabri South

New South Wales has waved through another large-scale PV project, a 60MW concern being developed by Canadian Solar just outside of Narrabri, in the state’s north.

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment reportedly green-lighted the $82 million Narrabri South Solar Farm late last week, which is expected to generate enough electricity to power up to 22,000 homes.

The solar farm will be built on a 190- hectare site on Old Gunnedah Road, around 10km to the southeast of the Narrabri township.

It will use around 200,000 Canadian Solar panels mounted on single-axis trackers, and will be connected to the grid via a 66kV line running along the south side of Old Gunnedah Road.

As part of the project – which is just the latest in a flurry of big solar approved for construction in the state – Canadian Solar has partnered with Australian start-up Reclaim PV to recycle the solar farm’s panels over the course of its expected 35-year lifetime.

As PV Magazine reports here this week, Reclaim PV has been working with Canadian Solar and a number of other companies including ReneSola, Q Cells, SunPower and Suntech, to recycle panels that fail under warranty, or are damaged during transit or installation.

According to one of the start-up’s founders, Clive Fleming, many new large-scale solar projects, including the Narrabri South solar farm, have end-of-life provisions written into their contracts.

For NSW, the Narrabri South solar farm is just the latest in the state’s massive pipeline of big solar projects to be approved for construction.

Among the most significant include the 900MW project proposed for Yarrabee Park by Reach Solar, which is expected to generate enough electricity to power a city the size of Newcastle.