ACEN Australia opens first phase of country’s largest solar project

Mirage News:

Stage 1 of ACEN Australia’s New England Solar project was officially opened today by the Hon Chris Bowen MP, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, marking a milestone in the project’s six-year journey to generate clean renewable energy into the National Electricity Market (NEM).

The 720 megawatt (AC) project is being developed in two stages and was approved by the NSW Government in 2020. The first 400 megawatt (AC) stage of the project has been in construction since March 2021. It is one of Australia’s largest solar projects to be participating in the NEM, with Stage 1 requiring the installation of close to a million solar panels.

New England Solar was granted formal registration to send power into the NEM by the Australian Energy Market Organisation (AEMO) in December 2022 and since that time has been generating renewable energy. Stage 1 of the project is expected to be generating at full name plate capacity of 400 megawatts (AC) in the coming months.

During construction, up to 400 workers have been on site during peak activity, upgrading and maintaining roads, installing and building supporting infrastructure, and constructing and connecting tracking systems and installing solar PV modules. Around 80% of this peak workforce has been filled by personnel from the New England region.

ACEN Australia CEO Anton Rohner said the event was an important milestone for the energy transformation underway across NSW and Australia.

[Staff Report]

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