Victoria solar farm goes from standing start to commissioning in just 12 months

The 130MW Glenrowan solar farm in Victoria is now fully commissioned, with construction through to going live taking just 12 months. 

The news was announced in a LinkedIn post by UGL renewable energy connections manager James Brennan, who said hold point testing was complete and the solar farm is now operating at “full unconstrained capacity.”

“Another very successful EPC project by UGL New Energy, also being the 3rd major utility scale solar project completing commissioning by our team within just 12 months!” Brennan wrote. 

Cimic Group company Pacific Partnerships energised the Glenrowan Solar Farm in late November last year and began exporting electricity to the national grid in December.  It is still waiting on AEMO’s final approval before officially launching.

It planned to ramp up to full production by the end of March 2024, to supply some 45,000 homes.

Located on 245 hectares in Victoria’s proposed North East Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), the solar farm has grid connection and service agreements with the Victorian transmission network operator AusNet and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

The Glenrowan Solar Farm is contracted through a 10-year power purchase agreement with the Victorian Government.

Just five days ago UGL said it was “steadily making strides towards completion in early 2024” and noted the volume of work completed in the last 12 months, including 32,000 piles laid for 226,000 solar panels, and 2,150 trackers.