EnergyAustralia has entered a 12-year agreement to purchase 100MW of renewable power from the new 150MW Coleambally solarfarm being developed by French company Neoen.
The Coleambally solarfarm is situated in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. It will be able to produce enough renewable energy to meet the electricity needs of more than 50,000 households.
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The newly signed power purchase agreement (PPA) is the fifth deal of EnergyAustralia’s A$1.5bn ($1.1bn) programme, which was announced last year to support new wind and solar projects across eastern Australia.
The project is also expected to create around 300 jobs during construction and has already formed seven ongoing operational roles.
Energy Australia energy executive Mark Collette said: “We have a neutral view about the technology that will replace existing coal as a source of base-load supply, so long as it supports the delivery of reliable, affordable, and cleaner energy.
“One thing is clear though, renewables are part of the solution and will make a major contribution to the development of a modern energy system in Australia.
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By GlobalData“Bringing on these new supplies will require billions of dollars of investment but doing nothing means higher prices and less reliable energy for all customers.”
Energy Australia has previously secured PPA agreements for 385MW of renewable energy for its customers from projects with total capacity of more than 500MW.
With the new PPAs, the company aims to meet the Australian Government’s renewable energy target, which requires retailers to have 23.5% of total energy in the national electricity market from renewable sources by 2020.
