The Kiamal solar farm is a 450MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power project under construction near Ouyen Township in north-west Victoria, Australia.
Total Eren, a global renewable energy developer based in France, is developing the solar farm in two stages.
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Construction on the 256MW stage one started in October 2018, with commissioning expected by mid-2019. Construction on the 194MW stage two is expected to commence by the end of 2019.
Kiamal solar farm will be the biggest solar farm in Victoria, upon completion.
Kiamal solar farm location
The Kiamal solar farm is located within the Mildura Rural City Council area, approximately 100km south of Mildura.
The solar farm will be divided by the Caldear Highway, with its one part to the west and the other to the east of the highway.
Kiamal solar farm stage one make-up
Spanning over 800ha, the stage one of Kiamal solar farm will comprise approximately 720,000 KuMax CS3U-P Low Internal Current (LIC) poly-crystalline cell-type modules from Canadian Solar.
The 1,500V high-efficiency KuMax modules will be placed on single-axis solar tracking systems.
Designed to operate at a temperature between -40oC and +85oC, the nominal maximum rated power of each module will range between 335W and 345W.
The electricity generated from the modules will be transmitted via PV inverter collection boxes to a 220kV on-site collector substation, which will consist of two transformers.
The switching station for the solar farm is planned to have a synchronous condenser to provide system strength to the north-west Victorian grid.
The electricity from the onsite collector substation will be further transmitted through overhead lines to a new 220kV Kiamal terminal station, which will be built, owned and operated by TransGrid.
The solar farm will also house an onsite energy storage facility.
Kiamal solar farm stage two details
The 194MW stage two of the Kiamal solar farm will have up to 270MW energy storage capacity.
The collector substation to be built during the stage one will be upgraded to meet to handle the increase in capacity.
Power purchase agreements
Total Eren has signed three power purchase agreements (PPA) for the project till date. It signed a 20-year PPA with Mars Australia in May 2018, while the other two PPAs were signed with energy retailing companies Alinta Energy and Flow Power in June 2018.
Kiamal solar project benefits
The solar farm will produce more than 560GWh of electricity a year, which will be sufficient to meet the energy demands of more than 133,500 Victorian households, while replacing more than 610,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
The construction of the first stage of Kiamal solar farm will provide more than 300 jobs during the construction phase and ten permanent jobs during operation.
Contractors involved
Canadian Solar and Biosar Australia were jointly awarded the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the development of the 256MW Kiamal solar farm in October 2018.
Wilsons Transformers will supply the twin transformers for the 220kV onsite collector substation of the Kaimal solar farm.
Biosar Australia had contracted Arctech Solar, a company based in China, to supply the solar tracking systems for the Kiamal solar farm in August 2018.
