Nyngan solar plant could come online 'this week'

First Solar says 102MW AGL showpiece nearing generation start.

Nyngan solar plant could come online 'this week'

AGL Energy's 102MW solar park in outback Nyngan, which is set to double Australia's utility-scale solar PV capacity, could begin producing power within days, Bloomberg reports, citing developer and panel maker First Solar.

According to the news service, the $290m project will start at 25MW before becoming fully operational by July, with First Solar's Asia-Pacific head saying it would mark the completion of a pioneering project.

“What was really constraining the large-scale solar market was the fact that it just hadn’t been done before, so there was a lot of misconception around the execution and cost challenges,” Curtis said, according to Bloomberg. “It can only get more efficient.”

Citing Bloomberg New Energy Finance, the news service says 4.1GW of large-scale solar could be installed in Australia through to 2010 - including another AGL-First Solar partnership, the 53MW Broken Hill solar farm - which would represent 85 times the current amount. 

PV-Tech said Nyngan was aided by funding to the tune of $166.7 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and $64.9 million from the NSW government.