Energise Gloucester Newsletter No 17

Chairman’s Note

Dear Members,

Energise Gloucester has submitted its application to the NSW Government for its Community Solar Farm. If successful, the grant will enable us to build a 500kW solar farm close to Gloucester that will provide electricity for about 125 households. The grant application is for $460,000 and we will need to raise $380,000 in community shares. It is proposed to do this by forming a Co-operative that will issue shares and pay dividends of 4-5% per year.

More about this and how you can get involved when the grants are announced!

Preparing the application has been a large task for David Marston and Neill Bencke. We have been supported by Mike Ramsden, Di Montague, Jim de Silva, Nena Hicks, Annemie Pelletier, Alison Bencke and others. Thanks to all these people and we hope the hard work pays off.
Below is a summary of the grant application.

Yours with energy,
David Marston
Chair

EG's stall at the recent Sustainable Futures Convention held in Gloucester in April.

We also presented at workshops in association with Enova and the Community Power Agency.

Gloucester Community Solar Farm

As you know Energise Gloucester (EG) is proposing to develop the Gloucester Community Solar Farm. This will generate electricity for sale in the local area and be operated by a Co-operative. The proposed 500kW system will generate enough electricity to support the equivalent of approximately 125 households. Last week EG applied to the NSW Government Regional Community Energy Fund for about half the money required. The Grant funding will be announced in August.

Final specifications will be determined as part of the Grant, but EG has a very good design and costing plan. This has been developed by members and other specialists working pro bono. This project is supported in principle by Bucketts Way Neighbourhood Group, the Gloucester Chamber of Commerce and Essential Energy. Discussions about planning approval have been held with MidCoast Council and support has been received from our local members of parliament, both State and Federal.

The proposed Solar Farm will be a ground mounted solar PV generation 500kW system. It will connect to the Essential Energy grid in the vicinity of Gloucester on about 2 hectares of rural land adjacent to an 11kVA power line and connect via a pole mounted transformer. It will use 1600 photovoltaic panels and 20 inverters to generate the electricity. The chart on page 2 shows the calculated monthly energy generation by the proposed solar farm.

Electricity will be sold through a special Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with a retailer able to market preferentially into the Gloucester community. Preliminary discussions have been held with Enova about a PPA and they have expressed a desire to work with EG. Enova is the community owned electricity, licensed retail company based in the north coast.

The Gloucester region has a substantial number of Households (HH) of low socioeconomic circumstances. Approximately $75,000 per year is provided to such HH as NSW Government electricity payment vouchers (EAPA Program) through the Bucketts Way Neighbourhood Centre. The proposed PPA will enable EG, through the retailer, to sell some electricity back into Gloucester Community at variable discounted rates based on these HH socioeconomic situations. This would be reflected in the rate that EG obtains for a proportion of its PPA and the dividend rate negotiated with some investors.

The initial project development cost will be approximately $920,000 and over the 20-year life of the project the total cost will be about $1,774,500. The RCEF grant request is $460,000 and EG will need to raise $380,000 from the community.

Pro bono contributions to the development and operation of the Solar Farm are estimated to be $112,000. It is planned to commission the Solar Farm by February 2022 and for it to operate for 20 years with electricity sales of $1,278,500.

Finance beyond that provided by the RCEF will be raised through community equity investments and pro bono contributions. A Distributing Co-operative will be established as a Special Purpose Vehicle by EG to manage the project, investments and PPA sales.

Member’shares in a Co-operative that will pay annual dividends and current calculations indicate a return of about 4-5%. It is proposed to issue a prospectus next year for this if the grant is successful.

EG is very excited about this Solar Farm and hopes that the NSW Government will agree and grant the 50% funding. It will be a great development for Gloucester and if successful, a model for several other solar farms in our area. Contact info@energisegloucester.org for more information.

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