The Goulburn Community Solar Farm is nearing its construction phase and has put out a call for interested contractors, developers, and designers to express an interest in one or more of the opportunities that will shortly be available to build the 1.2 MW solar farm.
“We are especially looking for local companies and contractors who are interested in working for us in developing the solar farm,” said Peter Fraser, the President of Community Energy for Goulburn, the community group responsible for initiating the project.
“It’s a $4M project and includes about 4000 panels connected to the grid with a stand-by 400 kw battery that will allow dispatchable power to be sent to the grid at high demand or when the price for energy is at a premium,” he said.
“It’s a great opportunity for local contractors and developers to get involved in this important technology, not just for the jobs it creates but also for the chance to learn new skills that will be in increasing demand over the next decades,” said Mr Fraser.
The solar farm received a $2M grant from the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment towards the project with the balance of the funds raised from local people who have joined the Goulburn Community Energy Cooperative which will own the farm once it has been constructed.
Community energy is a relatively new idea in Australia, but quite common in Europe and the USA as a method for the community to participate in owning their own energy projects in their region.
The independent MP for Indi, Helen Haines has only recently presented a private member bill to Federal Parliament supporting the concept of community energy by creating 50 Local Power Hubs to provide technical and project support to local community energy projects.
“Our project is one of the first community energy projects in NSW and now that we are ready to begin construction, we are very keen to see local companies, contractors and designers to get involved in this fantastic community owned project,” said Mr Fraser.
“The whole idea of community energy is to keep the profits within the community rather than sending those profits to a corporation that has no direct connection to our community. And the more jobs we also keep in Goulburn the better,” he said.
Interested people can register their EOI by going to the Goulburn solar farm website and follow the links: www.goulburnsolarfarm.com.au
More information: vp@ce4g.org.au
Ph: 0412 023 534
