$30m funding for Coleambally Solar Farm

The CEFC has committed $30 million in debt finance to the 150 MW (AC) Coleambally Solar Farm in NSW, being developed by  Neoen Australia.

Neoen has now achieved financial close on the Coleambally project, which is 5 km north east of Coleambally and 70 km south of Griffith. The farm will consist of about 565,000 solar panels on 550 hectares. It is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 50,000 homes, while abating about 300,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually, the equivalent of taking 90,000 cars off the road. The project has contracted 70% of its output to EnergyAustralia.

The CEFC has provided a further $150 million in debt finance to Neoen solar farm developments in Dubbo, Griffith and Parkes. The Griffith and Parkes solar farm projects are now fully built and are undergoing commissioning, exporting increasing amounts of renewable electricity into the national electricity grid as commissioning progresses. Full-scale commercial operation is expected to be achieved before the end of February.

Up to 300 workers are likely to be employed during the construction phase, which is expected to take around nine months.