A 100MWAC (125MWDC) solar farm project in Australia will be sold by global utility-scale solar developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), to two investment groups.
Buyers Lighthouse Infrastructure and DIF, have signed an agreement to buy the Clare solar PV plant in northern Queensland, with FRV to continue providing operations and maintenance (O&M) for the project.
The plant is notable as the first utility-scale solar PV plant in Australia to not require government subsidies to make its construction possible. Instead it was paid for through the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA). The off-taker is Australian electricity and gas provider Origin Energy, which purchases 100% of the power and large-scale renewable energy certificates (LRECs) from the plant.
FRV has brokered a couple of other such PPA deals for large-scale solar in the country recently, although Clare PV project’s was the first to be inked. The company has been owned by the Abdul Latif Jameel Group since 2015 and has to date developed nearly 4GW of capacity across regions including Australia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
The project’s construction is expected to create 200 local jobs and is expected to be completed later this year.
