Sunshine Coast Solar Farm

Benefits:

• Council proactively takes control of its electricity supply to combat rising electricity costs
• Provide Council facilities and operations with renewable electricity and help the Sunshine Coast region transition to a clean energy economy
• Employ an innovative business model that releases significant project value underpinned by extensive business case development and financial analysis
• Complement the Sunshine Coast’s 49,900 solar PV rooftops (equivalent to 183MW capacity) - approximately 42% of dwellings
• Reduce carbon emissions by 25,000 tco2e per year
• Deliver more than AUD $20 million in savings (after costs) for ratepayers from Council’s lower electricity costs over the next 30 years reducing pressure on rate rises.

The 15MegaWatt Solar Farm went live in July 2017 and is:

• the first solar farm connected to Energex’s 33kV grid in South East Queensland
• the first solar farm in Australia to operate more efficiently at 1,500 volts
• the largest solar farm built in South East Queensland
• accredited under the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target
• offsetting more than all electricity consumed by Council, including: all power use (air conditioning, heating, computers, lighting, etc); plus administration buildings, aquatic centres, community and performance venues, as well as holiday parks, libraries, art galleries and sporting facilities.