First Solar to build Qld's biggest solar power installation

First Solar has been contracted to construct what will be Queensland’s largest solar power installation. The company has signed a contract with the University of Queensland (UQ) to build a solar photovoltaic research facility at the University’s Gatton campus.

The 3.275 MW pilot plant will include more than 34,000 panels in a ground-mounted array. First Solar will install its advanced, thin-film cadmium telluride PV modules on a 12.6-hectare former airstrip site at the Gatton campus, which is 90 km west of Brisbane.

Under the engineering, procurement and construction contract between UQ and First Solar, electricity is due to start flowing by the end of next year.

UQ’s Property and Facilities Division will project manage the delivery of the plant and associated high-voltage infrastructure, as well as a research building at Gatton and a data hub control room at the St Lucia Campus. The division will also manage and operate the plant on completion.

The new research facility will augment UQ’s 1.22 MW photovoltaic array, which was completed at the university’s main campus at St Lucia in Brisbane in 2011. This project remains Australia’s largest rooftop solar installation.

A $40.7 million grant from the Education Investment Fund (EIF) is funding the Gatton installation. The project is also part of an AGL Energy project, supported by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

The Gatton plant is the pilot for two much larger solar farms that AGL Energy Limited and First Solar are building in western New South Wales: at Nyngan (102 MW) and Broken Hill (53 MW). The overall 155 MW, $450 million scheme will create Australia’s largest solar power plants.

“Components of our research will focus on energy storage, plant optimisation, power systems and the impact of renewable energy on the National Electricity Market,” said Professor Paul Meredith, project director from UQ’s Global Change Institute and the School of Maths and Physics.

“We will be able to test new technology and concepts at a meaningful scale and our work will help build national capacity for research in solar power deployment.

“We will create one of the largest and most sophisticated facilities for solar PV research anywhere in the world.”

“The Australian local solar industry is gaining momentum with the recent financial close of our two utility-scale projects in Nyngan and Broken Hill in NSW,” said Jack Curtis, First Solar’s vice president of business development for Asia Pacific.

“The knowledge gained through the construction and operation of large-scale, grid-connected solar power stations will help solar energy play a greater role in meeting Australia’s electricity needs. The research facility will provide the opportunities for technological advancement that will ensure we can maintain this momentum for future projects across the country.”