Why is the Gannawarra Shire a leader in the renewable energy sector:
- The Gannawarra Shire has high solar resources (sun)
- Large capacity terminal station
- Transmission network comprising of 220 KV, 66 KV and 22 KV lines
Gannawarra Shire Council has approved building permits for seven projects.
An application has been received for a 510MW solar farm and there is interest in an additional 1200MW of power generation.
Construction of Stage 1 of the Gannawarra Solar Farm and the Gannawarra Energy Storage System have been completed. You can watch a brief video from ARENA about the Gannawarra Energy Storage System by clicking here.
Investment Levels
|
Company
|
Size
|
Value
|
Location
|
Stage
|
Commencement
|
|
Edify Energy
|
300MW
|
$400m
|
West Kerang
|
Permit
|
Stage 1 completed June 2017
Stage 2 TBC
|
|
ACE
|
60MW
|
$60m
|
Kerang
|
Permit
|
Late 2023/Early 2024
|
|
ACE
|
60MW
|
$60m
|
Kerang
|
Permit
|
TBC
|
|
Greenswitch
|
50MW
|
$50m
|
Kerang
|
Permit
|
Jan 2024
|
|
Leeson Group/Enel
|
34MW
|
$40m
|
Horfield
|
Permit
|
Completed
|
|
New Sky
|
510MW
|
$650m
|
Tragowel
|
Permit
|
TBC
|
|
Total
|
1014mw
|
$1.26b
|
|
|
|
Community Benefits
- Adds diversity to our economy creating new jobs and business potential
- Employment during construction (between 80 and 200 construction jobs per project) and ongoing positions (estimated at 30 permanent jobs)
- Increases the Shire's Investment Profile and brings new development to the area
- Substantial rates revenue will be generated through the development of these projects
- Business leverage, will be a great benefit to all the businesses throughout the Shire. The ability to supply goods and services to the large scale solar projects will allow other businesses to grow and flourish in the area.
Gannawarra Shire Council welcomes the Federal and State governments’ commitment to invest in KerangLink, which will enable current and future large-scale renewable energy projects to be constructed within the municipality and across north-western Victoria.
To be completed by 2027, KerangLink will connect Victoria and New South Wales’ electricity network, with the upgrading of current infrastructure and development of new transmission lines enabling local renewable energy facilities to feed into the national grid.
The project will enable approved renewable energy projects to proceed, in what is a “game changer” for the Gannawarra, by setting up North West Victoria as the nation’s largest renewable energy zone.
The State Government has set clean energy targets for the future. Victoria has set a target of 40 per cent renewable energy by 2025. The Federal Government is looking at a Renewable Energy program to secure Australia’s power supply for the future. Currently Australia’s energy production from renewables is around 17,500 GWh.
Australian businesses are beginning to understand the benefits of utilising renewable energy and the good will that generates with their customers.
There will continue to be more demands on Australia’s power supplies with the projected increases in population.
The community now has expectations of business and governments to utilise renewable energy options and to reduce their carbon footprint.
In November 2020, sheep were introduced to the Gannawarra Solar and Energy Storage Farm as part of an agrisolar trial in partnership with the Landowner. The Agrisolar trial at Gannawarra isa new industry benchmark, with the introduction of sheepgrazing the first of its kind on the same land that hosts Australia’s first utility–scale solar and battery power station.