Project Summary:
· Seeking retail, solar farm (finance and EPC) and demand management partners to build up to 9MW* solar farm, with a minimum 2MW allocated to the Newstead community. DA pending - feedback suggests 9MW upper limit.
· EOI due September 7; RFQ to be released late September, responses due end October.
· Explicit goal to demonstrate a scalable model for 100% renewable energy supply, that works independent of subsidies. Relationships in place across Victorian communities to help scale success.
· Deeply engaged Newstead community group working as project developer to de-risk investment. Land secured, planning underway, primed community/customers, with funding from State Government (up to $1m total funding available -note: funding scales down with solar farm size - $825k for 5MW inclusive of project development cost).
· Powercor has been closely involved since 2016, enabling data sharing and collaboration on model design. The collaboration is ongoing, with Powercor a project partner and cornerstone for scaling "The Newstead Model".