Mannum solar farm. Source: Epic Energy.
The newest solar project in South Australia is expected to be online and fully operational in September, adding to the state’s already world leading 70 per cent share of local electricity demand captured by wind and solar projects.
The 30MW (ac) Mannum 2 solar project is being built next to a smaller 6.8MW facility that is already operating, and it will help power a local glass manufacturing facility in Gawler, which is owned by Orora.
Epic Energy first announced the project late last year and has now officially applied for a generation licence, which it hopes to obtain by May 26 so it can complete the necessary approvals to bring the project on line in September.
Epic says it needs the licence to apply for an R1 registration from the Australian Energy Market Operator. It plans to begin live testing at the site on August 29, and to begin commercial operations on September 15.
Even though South Australia has sourced 70 per cent of its electricity demand from wind and solar in the last 12 months, and 80 per cent over summer, it has surprisingly few large scale solar farms.
The biggest are the Bungala Stage 1 and 2 projects that have a combined capacity of 220MW, while the first large scale solar farm in the state, the 95MW Tailem Bend solar project, is soon to be joined by the 87MW second stage of that project which has already been registered, along with a 45MW, one hour battery.
A 107MW solar farm at the Port Augusta Renewable Energy Hub, part of the country’s biggest wind and solar hybrid project, is the only other large scale solar farm that is currently operating, although there are a number of small solar projects under 10MW, and more than 1.3GW of rooftop solar in the state.
The Mannum stage 2 project is using bifacial solar panels, Sungrow inverters and a single-axis tracking system. Construction and the first two years of operations and maintenance will be managed by Enzen Australia.
When the project was announced, Orora CEO Brian Lowe said the new power source will help the company in its goal of reducing Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent by 2035.
“We are also committed to driving energy efficiency in our operations,” Lowe said. “We were one of the first companies in Australia to underwrite renewable assets through long term power purchase agreements, which have enabled renewable assets to be funded and developed.”
Epic Energy owns gas pipeline infrastructure in South Australia as well as two wind farms in Victoria and a recently commissioned solar PV and battery microgrid at the Brooklyn Park, South Australia, IKEA store.
It bought the first stage of Mannum in late 2020 and the second stage in August last year from the original developer Canadian Solar.
See RenewEconomy’s Large Scale Solar Farm Map of Australia
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