Photon Energy recently announced that it has commissioned its first utility-scale photovoltaic (PV) power plants in Australia, with a combined capacity of 14.6 MWp. The two facilities are situated in Leeton, New South Wales, and it expands the Group’s installed base in the country to 14.7 MWp, and its total proprietary portfolio of PV power plants to 89.3 MWp.
The company is based out of Amsterdam which focuses on delivering renewable and clean energy and water solutions around the world.
Michael Gartner, CTO of Photon Energy Group, said, “Today marks another milestone for Photon Energy, with the commissioning of the first utility-scale power plants in Australia to be added to our portfolio, which will help the Group in reducing the seasonality of electricity-generation revenues globally.”
He further added, “Our merchant approach in Australia paves the way for grid-competitive assets to be developed and added to our European markets and elsewhere in the world. In these challenging times, we are proud that our Australian team has made another major achievement, representing an important step towards the implementation of our growth strategy.”
The municipality of Leeton is located in the heart of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, famous for the production of wine and citrus fruits. This area uses significant energy which was traditionally generated by large coal power plants situated hundreds of kilometers away.
One of the first Australian utility-scale PV power plants in the Group’s IPP portfolio, both solar farms use bi-facial PV modules mounted on single-axis trackers and are connected to the grid owned and operated by Essential Energy as a non-scheduled generator. The plants are expected to produce approximately 27.8 GWh of clean electricity annually.
The electricity generated will be sold on the National Electricity Market on a merchant basis, as will the Large Generation Certificates (LGCs) generated by the plant. They will play a role in the plants’ future revenue management strategy, alongside other hedging options.
Photon Energy developed the projects in-house and delivered engineering, procurement, and construction services through its subsidiary Photon Energy Engineering Australia Pty Ltd. The subsidiary of the group (Photon Energy Operations Australia Pty Ltd) will provide long-term monitoring and operations and maintenance services to both power plants.
