A Queensland council has achieved a first in the nation with the help of a top corporate firm.
Ashurst has acted for the Sunshine Coast Council on the grid connection and offtake arrangements for the 15MW Sunshine Coast Solar Farm. With the $50m utility-scale solar farm, the council has become Australia’s first local government to offset 100% of its power needs with energy from a renewable source.
The solar farm, which is located at Valdora, is the second-largest solar farm in Queensland and the sixth-largest in Australia. It is also the first solar farm in Australia to operate at 1,500 volts DC, Ashurst said.
The 15,000 kilowatts of electricity it produces will go into the Energex network, offsetting all the power needs of the council’s facilities, including its administration buildings, aquatic centres, libraries, art galleries, and sporting facilities.
Ashurst said the facility is expected to deliver $22m in savings over 30 years, generating enough electricity every year to power about 5,000 homes.
The Ashurst team was led by partner Paul Newman. It also included lead counsel Teresa Scott and lawyer Julia Gonclaves, who are both with the firm’s utilities group.
In March, Ashurst confirmed that it advised Edify Energy on the completion of
Australia’s largest financing for a single solar project.
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