Spark says 100-MW solar park in NSW is fully operational

The 100-MW Bomen solar park in New South Wales, Australia, has reached full commercial operations, its owner said on Monday.

Australian utility infrastructure investor Spark Infrastructure Group (ASX:SKI) bought the project in April 2019 and launched construction in June 2019. Beon Energy Solutions, a unit of Victoria Power Networks, was in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC). Mechanical completion was reached in January 2020 and commissioning of the solar farm started in late February. It has been able to export all of its power since the middle of June.

Spark announced yesterday that it now has all approvals from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and TransGrid for full operation. It added that the photovoltaic (PV) park near Wagga Wagga is generating in line with expectations.

At financial close, the project’s total cost was estimated to be AUD 188 million, but Spark now expects it to be around AUD 180 million (USD 129m/EUR 100m).

“On our first investment in renewable generation, we are very pleased to have delivered the Project under-budget especially when considering the significant challenges and delays experienced as a consequence of COVID-19,” said Rick Francis, CEO of Spark.

The Bomen park has a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Westpac and several contracts with energy retailer Flow Power with terms of five to 10 years. A total of 95% of the plant’s output is contracted for the first five years, in which the average annual revenue is expected to be AUD 13.5 million.

The solar farm’s capacity in direct current (DC) is 120 MW. It has 310,576 bi-facial solar panels.

(AUD 1 = USD 0.72/EUR 0.61)

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