The $450 million first stage of the Solar River Project near Robertstown, South Australia is set to begin construction in May, with Downer appointed as the contractor to deliver the works.
“Downer brings cutting edge technology and construction excellence to South Australia.
“[The company’s] commitment to create hundreds of local jobs during construction sealed the deal,” Solar River Project Chief Executive Jason May said.
The project will comprise of up to 640,000 solar panels with a total capacity of approximately 200MW. The Solar River Project is going to be built on a 5,000 hectare site half way between Burra and Morgan.
This large-scale renewable energy project is set to be delivered in four stages and is anticipated to create up to 350 jobs over the two-year construction period on Stage One together with 45 permanent positions that will include apprenticeships, traineeships as well as engineering and management jobs.
The Solar River Project was given the green light for development in June of last year and it is now in the final stages of arranging the finances needed for the development.
The completed Stage One of the project is expected to generate enough renewable energy to power up to 90,000 homes.
A 100MW battery storage component will also be delivered together with the 200MW solar farm during the first stage of the project. Future stages of the Solar River Project will each deliver a 200MW solar farm and a 100MW battery storage.
The entire Solar River Project is set to be completed within eight years if all four stages are approved for development.
Solar River Project Pty Ltd has also signed an agreement to provide funding for the revegetation of sections of a 19,000 hectare private property near Morgan as part of the company’s environmental offset obligations.
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Source: The Advertiser; Solar Quotes Blog; Solar River Project