Broken Hill

Project Overview

The Broken Hill Solar Plant is situated on approximately 200 hectares of land approximately 5km southwest of Broken Hill in New South Wales (NSW). The project is instrumental in developing a robust solar industry in Australia.

The 53 megawatt (MW) alternating current (AC) project which is powered by 677,760 of First Solar’s advanced PV modules will produce approximately 126,000 megawatt-hours of clean solar energy each year, enough energy to power 17,000 average Australian homes and displace over 109,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year, the equivalent of taking over 29,000 cars off the road annually. Power from the project will connect into the existing Broken Hill substation via a new 22kV transmission line. AGL Hydro Partnership, a wholly owned subsidiary of AGL, will purchase the power generated by the solar plant.

The Broken Hill Solar Plant is funded with support from both the Australian government and NSW government.

In addition to supplying the solar modules for the project, First Solar provided the the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services, as well as operations and maintenance (O&M) support for the first five years of operation. The solar farm reached commercial operation in October 2015. The project created jobs for about 150 people at the project’s construction peak in addition to jobs related to the procurement of local supplies and materials.