Broken Hill Solar Plant

On an annual basis, the Broken Hill Solar Plant will produce enough electricity to meet the needs of approximately 19,000 average Australian homes.

Broken Hill Solar Plant was one of two large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants delivered by AGL in 2015, jointly funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the NSW Government.

The 53 MW solar plant is expected to generate approximately 126,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of clean, renewable electricity each year.

It will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by over 103,710 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per annum, assuming a rate of 0.84 tonnes per MWh of electricity. Particulate and heavy metal emissions will also be reduced.

Location

Broken Hill has one of the highest levels of solar radiation in NSW, making it an ideal location for a solar plant. Plus, with a large local population and several industrial sites nearby, there is significant demand for electrical power in the region.

The site sits about 5 km southwest of the Broken Hill township, adjacent to Willyama Common. An existing substation is nearby, enabling relatively efficient connection into the electrical grid.

The solar plant occupies approximately 140 hectares of Crown Land bounded by the Barrier Highway to the north and the Peterborough-Broken Hill rail line to the south, and administered by the NSW Department Primary Industries, Lands and Water.

Broken Hill Solar Plant map (PDF), opens in a new window

Tilt Renewables

On behalf of Tilt Renewables (formerly Powering Australian Renewables Fund (PARF)), AGL announced in November 2016 that it had reached financial close on selling its 102 MW Nyngan and 53 MW Broken Hill solar plants into the fund.

The AU$257 million sale, with approximately nil profit on sale, includes AGL writing a long term offtake agreement with the two solar plants.

Media release: Powering Australian Renewables Fund achieves first major milestone, opens in a new window

Project delivery

AGL was responsible for the development and management of Broken Hill Solar Plant. Construction began in mid-July 2014 and was completed at the end of 2015. The plant was officially opened in January 2016.

First Solar provided AGL with engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and is also maintaining the plant for its first five years of commercial operation. The electricity produced by the project will be sold under a power purchase agreement to AGL Hydro Partnership, a partnership between wholly owned subsidiaries of AGL.

How does the solar plant work?

First Solar's advanced cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin film photovoltaic (PV) modules convert sunlight into electricity, which is then fed into the electrical grid. This process generates electricity with no air emissions, no waste production and no water use.

Generation

Generation from the Broken Hill Solar Plant commenced on 15 September 2015. Full generation (53 MW) was achieved in October 2015.

The following information is provided for calendar year 2016 (PDF), opens in a new window and calendar year 2017 (XLS), opens in a new window:

• actual generation from the solar plant during the AEMO trading interval
• actual regional reference price for each trading interval
• link to Green Energy Markets showing the LGC market prices.

The Broken Hill Solar Plant is connected to the National Electricity Market, opens in a new window (NEM) which is managed by the Australian Energy Market Operator, opens in a new window (AEMO). For a glossary of terms associated with the NEM and mentioned in our report please refer to the AEMO website, opens in a new window. The solar plant revenue is also subject to the Marginal Loss Factors (MLF) which are published, opens in a new window each financial year by AEMO.

Report: Broken Hill Generation (PDF), opens in a new window