Solar farms announced for Bridgewater, Ouyen, Fulham, Taralgon, Horsham and Glenrowan

Six new solar farms will be built in regional Victoria. See where they are located.

The Victorian government has announced six new solar farms to be built near the regional towns of Bridgewater, Ouyen, Fulham, Taralgon, Horsham and Glenrowan.

Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced the new projects today as part of the Victorian government’s push to run government operations on 100 per cent renewable energy by 2025.

Ms D’Ambrosio labelled the commitments a “gamechanger” and said they would create 920 jobs during construction.

Four battery projects were also announced, which Ms D’Ambrosio said would double the state’s energy storage capacity by delivering 365MW and 600MWh of dispatchable energy to the grid.

“We are racing towards meeting our renewable energy storage targets,” she said.

The six new solar farms announced in Victoria.

The projects announced include the Derby Solar Project southeast of Bridgewater, Fulham Solar Farm south of Fulham, Kiamal Solar Farm north of Ouyen, Frasers Solar Farm north of Traralgon, Horsham Solar Farm east of Horsham, and Glenrowan Solar Farm southwest of Glenrowan.

The government has “mandated local content” for the builds, which Ms D’Ambrosio said would guarantee economic benefits to communities.

The companies behind the projects are a mix of Australian and international firms.

Glenrowan Solar Farm is owned by German investment firm Wirtgen Invest. Kiamal Solar Farm is owned by French energy company Total Eren. Frasers Solar Farm is owned by Australian developer South Energy. Horsham Solar Farm is owned by “Australian focused” renewable energy developer ESCO Pacific. Fulham Solar Farm is owned by Octopus Australia and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

Victoria’s six new solar farms will help to meet the Victorian government’s target of powering all government operations on renewable energy by 2025.