Tathra council seals deal for largest community solar farm

A small New South Wales community has launched a solar farm that aims to generate electricity for its sewage plant – and it will be owned by local residents.

On Saturday, the Tathra community solar farm was officially launched by Matthew Nott, from Clean Energy for Eternity (CEFE), and Leanne Bares, General Manger at Bega Valley Shire Council.

The memorandum of understanding paves the way for a 50kW solar array to be installed at the Tathra Sewage Treatment Plant. It will account for around half of its electricity needs.

In a quirky twist the solar panels will be arranged in a way that spell the word ‘imagine’ when seen from the air by passengers aboard flights into Merimbula.

The Bega Shire Council has said that the solar farm is set to be a leading example throughout Australia of how local government can partner with its community to reduce energy costs and reduce local contributions to climate change.

Council and CEFE, have each committed $25,000 towards the project. Clean Energy for Eternity was, in turn, supported by the Tathra Mountain Bike Club’s donations from the annual Tathra Enduro Mountain Bike Race. The NSW Office of Environment and Heritage has also pledged $5,000.

When complete, the solar farm will produce up to 50kW and account for 50 per cent of the power needs of the sewage treatment plant, which currently costs around $50,000 a year to operate.

Prue Kelly, the CEFE Project Manager with Tathra Community Solar said that the “project has close to our hearts for seven to eight years now and its great that it has finally come to fruition”. Kelly also commended the “tremendous support CEFE received from Bega Valley Council”.

Each of the 38 panels in the ‘imagine’ solar array can be purchased by individuals, businesses or community groups for $250 each. Kelly also noted that even though sales of the solar panels have only been available for three weeks, they have already sold through one and a half of the ‘imagine’ letters.

Kelly wanted to note also that any person can buy a panel and that they plan to “list all donors on permanent signage on site for the life of the installation which is 25 years”.

CEFE is currently “very encouraged” and plans to “have [the solar farm] completed and up and running by the end of the year”.

“Through the development of this community partnership, Council and CEFE are set to form part of the emerging Community Renewable Energy sector which has been operating internationally for over 20 years but only in the last 5 years has kicked off in Australia” said Daniel Murphy, Environmental Management Office for Bega Valley Shire Council.

“Through the project model proposed, a proportion of the financial savings generated by the solar panels will be used to assist the community install renewable energy on community buildings in the Shire,” he said.

The solar farm is set to be built over the next 8 months and be operating in time for the 2015 Tathra Enduro mountain bike event. Council expects a tender to go out at the end of May and construction to begin in July.

There are now plans to consider similar solar power projects at each of the shire’s other three treatment plants in Bega, Merimbula and Eden.