The largest solar farm in Australia recently started its operations at Royalla. It was officially opened by Simon Corbell, the Minister for the Environment. The plant is located about 23 kilometres from Canberra.
This solar facility is now in operation and will be providing clean renewable energy to its customers. The 20 MW solar farm is expected to generate an average of 37,000 MWh of solar energy every year for the next 20 years.
Royalla solar farm to power Canberra
With its capacity, the Royalla Solar Farm will be able to supply the electricity needs of approximately 4,500 households in Canberra, at an average maximum cost of around $13 per annum per household.
One of the major contributors to the successful operations of the Royalla Solar Farm is SI Clean Energy. This company is a key contractor for the installation and commissioning of the power plant’s inverters.
The engineers, electricians and technicians of SI Clean Energy worked constantly and efficiently, even during difficult weather conditions to ensure that the solar facility will be successfully commissioned and able to function at its optimum efficiency and maximum output.
“It was a great responsibility for Si Clean Energy to undertake and play such a critical role on the project, and incredibly exciting to be calling and notifying the utility control centre as we sequentially energized each of the ten 2MW Ingeteam power stations,” said CTO Peter Bulanyi.
Si Clean Energy is a major contributor to new Royalla solar farm
“The best part was seeing a new record for PV solar farm production in Australia and most importantly, having 100% success with the job,” he enthused. His company is the Australian sales and service partner of Ingeteam, the company that supplied the solar power inverters.
SI Clean Energy solar panel installer packs up after a lengthy installation of Australia’s largest solar power far.
Even the Clean Energy Council has commended the project. The CEC regarded the project as a landmark achievement and a bright spot for the solar industry.
“The launch of Australia’s largest solar farm today is a landmark achievement and a bright moment for an industry whose future is currently under a cloud,” says the CEC. The organization is referring to the current approach of the government which curtailed the vigour that the solar industry is manifesting in the energy market.
Royalla solar farm set to be the largest one of its kind in Australia
The project site of the Royalla solar farm is currently occupying 50 hectares of land. With this large area, the facility can accommodate 83,000 solar panels and 10 Ingeteam Power Stations.
One power station is comprised of two 1MW central inverters, an 11,000 volt 2MW transformer, an 11,000 volt circuit breaker, complete with essential accessories such as control and monitoring equipment. This assembly is housed in a 40 foot sea container.
The Royalla solar farm concept was developed by a Spanish company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures. In the inauguration of the solar power plant, Enrique Viguera, the Spanish Foreign Minister was in attendance.
The Royalla solar farm can be rightfully considered as the largest solar facility in terms of solar energy capacity since it is able to provide more than 10 times the capacity of any solar power generator now supplying electricity to the National Electricity Market.
