The Nyngan Solar Plant or Farm is one of the largest operating solar plants in
Australia. At the time of construction, it was the largest solar plant in the
southern hemisphere. It is located 10 km west of
Nyngan
Nyngan () is a town in the centre of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bogan Shire local government area within the Orana Region of central New South Wales. At the 2016 census, Nyngan had a population of 1,988 people. Nyngan is situated on th ...
in western
New South Wales
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. It was built and is operated by
AGL Energy.
It has over 1.3 million solar panels, generating 102 megawatts of power. It was opened on 18 April 2015, and became fully operational in July 2015.
The Nyngan Solar Plant is associated with the
Broken Hill Solar Plant
The Broken Hill Solar Plant, which became operational in December 2015, is a 53 megawatt farm located near Broken Hill in western New South Wales, Australia. It is associated with the Nyngan Solar Plant (almost 600 km to the east), making the tot ...
, a 53 megawatt farm located almost 600 km west, which became operational in December 2015,
making the total capacity of the combined plants 155 megawatts. The solar panels do not track the movement of the sun. They are arranged in rows facing north, tilted at 25 degrees.
Financial impact
The plants were constructed with $166.7 million funding support from the
Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and $64.9 million from the
NSW Government
The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...
. There was some criticism of the use of Government funding. Both plants were constructed by AGL in partnership with
First Solar
First Solar, Inc. is an American manufacturer of solar panels, and a provider of utility-scale PV power plants and supporting services that include finance, construction, maintenance and end-of-life panel recycling. First Solar uses rigid thi ...
,
Bogan Shire Council (Nyngan) and
Broken Hill City Council, and local communities.
The total cost of the projects was $440 million.
Annually, the two plants combined will produce approximately 360,000 MWh of renewable energy, powering more than 50,000 average Australian homes, AGL claims.
Powering Australian Renewables Fund
Ownership of the Nyngan and Broken Hill solar plants was transferred in late 2016 from AGL Energy to the new
Powering Australian Renewables Fund (PARF), an infrastructure fund closely associated with but independent from AGL.
References
External links
AGL Website - Renewable EnergyPowering Australian Renewables Fund FAQ
{{Energy in New South Wales
Solar power stations in New South Wales