Mayor of Moree Plains Shire Council Katrina Humphries has turned the first sod of dirt of Moree’s Solar Farm development.
Mayor Humphries was joined by executives from the Spanish company behind the project, Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), and said the commencement marked one of the happiest days of her Council career.
“Today represents a very exciting milestone and we look forward to developments over the coming months.
“We have an excellent solar window which is one of the reasons Moree is one the richest agricultural shires in Australia.
“Generating our own clean energy close to our customers allows us to reduce transmission losses, secure long-term rates, and keep more money local.”
The Moree Solar Farm will cover 350 hectares of land when completed, and supply 15,000 homes, reducing Council’s CO2 emissions annually by 95,000 tonnes.
It will also be the first solar farm in Australia to include single-axis tracking on such a large scale and function on a ‘merchant’ basis, selling its output into the National Electricity Market rather than relying on a contract with a retailer.
Mayor Humphries said the project would not have been possible without the support of FRV, the local community, the Federal Member for Parkes, NSW state government, and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Clean
Energy Finance Corporation who provided funding for the project.
