NSW solar farm reaches full production three months after first power

The owners of the 85MW Hillston solar farm in NSW say it has reached full production in less than three months from first energisation, one of the few renewable energy installations that have been able to navigate a seamless shift through the commissioning process.

Amp Australia, a subsidiary of Toronto-based energy giant Amp, has big plans for Australia, including major solar and battery storage projects in South Australia, and the roll-out of its Amp X digital platform.

Hillston – 85MW (ac) and 120MW (dc) – is its biggest operating asset in Australia to date, and while many projects have been bogged down by delays as they work through the various “hold points” in the commissioning process, this reached full output ahead of schedule.

”(It) is a testament to the cooperation of all stakeholders, in particular the distribution network service provider Essential Energy, and the proactive management from our local team”, Dean Cooper, the head of Amp Australia, said in a statement.

The milestone was reached a while ago (first generation actually occurred as we noted at the time in early November), but Cooper says the announcement was timed to coincide with its newly acquired “green finance status” with lenders Natixis and Export Development Canada.

The Hillston project, located in the Riverina region, will generate approximately 235,00 MWh of clean energy annually, which is forecasted to avoid in excess of 160,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year. It adds to the smaller 40MW Molong solar farm.

Other solar farms to join the grid in NSW in recent months include the Sebastapol and the Metz solar farms, both owned by FRV.

Amp’s biggest projects in Australia are the Robertstown and Bungama solar and battery storage developments in South Australia, both of which will likely be timed with the opening of the new transmission link to NSW, the $2.3 billion Project Energy Connect.

These two projects – dubbed by the company as the Renewable Energy Hub of South Australia – include 1.36GW (dc) of large scale solar PV and 550MW of battery storage, with a storage duration that is yet to be determined.

Amp has already been busy in Europe, announcing plans to build the two biggest grid-connected big batteries in Europe, both 400MW/800MWh facilities in Scotland.

Amp’s says its expansion in Australia will include Amp X, its proprietary digital energy platform owned that includes Virtual Power Plant capabilities that help with autonomous control and optimised dispatch of battery storage and other flexible energy assets.

The company was founded in 2009, and is back by institutional capital partners including Carlyle, which invested US$374 million for a minority stake in the company in late 2020.

See RenewEconomy’s updated Large Scale Solar Farm Map of Australia