Greenough River Solar Farm

Stage 1

Greenough River Solar Farm was constructed in 2012 as a 10 megawatt fixed panel facility. Located approximately 50 kilometres southeast of Geraldton in Western Australia, and on the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), the Greenough River Solar Farm was the first utility-scale solar plant in Australia to be commissioned and operational, comprising 150,000 First Solar series 3 thin film photovoltaic (PV) panels. Local landholders have leased portions of their properties to Bright Energy Investments.

The clean, affordable and sustainable energy generated by the first stage of the solar farm is being purchased by the WA Water Corporation to help offset the energy requirements of the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant, near Binningup.

Stage 2

Bright Energy Investments appointed JUWI Renewable Energy Pty Ltd to complete the construction of the Greenough River Solar Farm – Stage 2 Expansion Project. Construction and commissioning of the second stage is now complete. Stage 2 uses First Solar series 4 thin film photovoltaic panels. The 30MW expansion of the solar PV panels has seen the installation of more than 300,000 additional panels alongside the original 150,000 panels from Stage 1. The panels operate on a NEXTracker single axis system, which rotates the panels to follow the sun to generate more power in the mornings and afternoon compared to fixed panels.

The Operations and Maintenance contractor for the Greenough River Solar Farm is NovaSource Power Services with maintenance on-site being conducted by local technicians. In addition, Synergy Renewable Energy Developments Pty Ltd (SynergyRED) provides asset management services to the facility on behalf of Bright Energy Investments.

The expanded solar farm is providing significant renewable power to the Western Australian electricity grid (South West Interconnection System or SWIS), equivalent to more than the average electricity use of 18,600 households.