Construction has kicked off for ENGIE’s 250MW Goorambat East Solar Farm project, which the utility said is the biggest solar farm under construction in Victoria.
Victorian Minister for Climate Action, Energy and Resources and State Electricity Commission, Lily D’Ambrosio, joined ENGIE executives and team members on site for a sod-turning ceremony on 24 October 2024.
ENGIE Australia Managing Director of Renewables, Laura Caspari, said construction of the project – located near the regional towns of Goorambat and Benalla in northern Victoria – is proceeding as planned and will make an important contribution to ENGIE’s renewable energy ambitions in one of its key foothold states.
“We expect construction and commissioning of Goorambat East Solar Farm to be finished in 2026, helping to advance our goal of delivering 3GW of renewable energy in Australia by 2030,” Ms Caspari said.
The Goorambat East project will create approximately 250 new jobs during construction, represents significant new private investment in regional Victoria, and will help to meet the state’s renewable energy targets. Once completed, the solar farm will generate enough electricity at maximum capacity to power the equivalent of 105,000 average Victorian homes.
“Goorambat East is an optimal project with an excellent solar resource and access to existing transmission infrastructure – it also has a great network of near neighbours and community members that we’ve been working with. We look forward to being a part of this community and making meaningful contributions at every stage of this project,” Ms Caspari said.
ENGIE has committed to a community benefit fund of $75,000 per year for the life of the project, as well as up to $1000 in annual electricity rebates offered to eligible near neighbours of the project, once it starts to generate electricity.
“ENGIE has been operating in Victoria since 1996 and today has a significant retail presence, an important rehabilitation project and 150MW/150MWh battery at Hazelwood, and a pipeline of renewable energy developments. It will be a gratifying, full-circle moment to build on our legacy and operate clean energy assets here,” Ms. Caspari said.
The Goorambat East Solar Farm is located about 500m east of the town of Goorambat and 12km north of Benalla in Victoria, in between the regional centres of Shepparton and Wangaratta.
The solar farm will connect to a newly built Goorambat East Terminal Station, to be located alongside the existing single circuit 220kV transmission line route between Shepparton Terminal Station and Dederang Terminal Station and to be operated and maintained by AusNet, pursuant to connection agreements reached with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
To further support the Goorambat community, ENGIE is contributing up to $50,000 towards the new 5G mobile phone and data tower, which is currently under construction.
Featured image: ENGIE.
