Downer wins Beryl Solar Farm contract

14/05/2018

Downer announced today it had been awarded an Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract worth approximately $150 million by First Solar for the 87MWac Beryl Solar Farm located about five kilometres west of Gulgong, New South Wales (NSW).
 
"Large scale projects are critical to our regional communities and we are looking forward to partnering with First Solar to deliver the Beryl Solar Farm that will see significant economic and environmental benefits in regional New South Wales," said Grant Fenn.
 
"This includes direct and indirect job creation, support for local businesses, and the development of skills in a growing renewable sector." First Solar's Vice President of Asia Pacific, Steven Jackson congratulated Downer on the award. "We look forward to working with Downer to successfully deliver the project. The Beryl Solar Farm will be one of the first large scale renewable projects to use First Solar's Series 6 thin film photovoltaic modules. Series 6 modules deliver more watts per connection than crystalline silicon modules. This enables Downer to realise construction cost savings while maximising the energy production for the project site, resulting in a lower levelised cost of energy."
 
When in operation, the Beryl Solar Farm will see electricity generated with no water use, no air emissions, and no waste production, with the smallest carbon footprint of any PV technology available. When completed, the 260,000 advanced solar modules on the Beryl Solar Farm will produce energy to run approximately 25,000 average NSW homes, displacing more than 167,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
 
Notice to proceed has been issued to Downer under the EPC contract and construction is scheduled to take approximately 12 months.