Greenough River Solar Farm
The energy from the sun is being harnessed by Verve Energy in the Mid West region of Western Australia.
Verve Energy has installed a 10MW solar farm near Ellendale, 50 kilometres southeast of Geraldton, with joint venture partners GE Energy Financial Services.
First Solar provided the PV technology using more than 150,000 thin film PV modules to construct the solar farm which was officially opened by the Minister for Energy, Peter Collier, on 10 October 2012.
Situated on approximately 80 hectares of private, cleared land, the solar photovoltaic (PV) farm produces energy when it is needed most - during the day. It is Australia's first utility scale solar farm.
It is a significant project for the state and for Verve Energy, generating approximately 22 GWh of electricity per annum. It reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 20,000 tonnes per year, the equivalent of taking 4000 cars off the road.
- This project is supported by the Office of Energy, Royalties for Regions through the Department of Regional Development and Lands, and Mid West Regional Development Commission.