A SOLAR farm in Bangholme is on track for completion in the middle of the year, the state government says.
Construction began on the solar farm at Melbourne Water’s Eastern Treatment Plant in Bangholme last year. The project is expected to cost $38 million.
The finished solar farm will house 39,000 solar panels. More than 400 of the 481 rows have now been installed, as well as all six onsite power stations.
Carrum MP Sonya Kilkenny said that the solar farm will “take a significant amount of pressure off the grid and will also reduce Melbourne Water’s carbon emissions by more than 30,000 tonnes a year.”
“With so many renewable energy projects happening all across Victoria it’s exciting to see such a significant solar project right here in our local community,” she said.
Melbourne Water managing director Dr Nerina Di Lorenzo said that the solar farm would help the organisation halve its emissions by 2025 “and explore a path to reduce them to net zero by 2030”.
“This solar farm is another exciting opportunity to expand Melbourne Water’s portfolio of renewable energy generation,” she said. “We look forward to turning the switch on sometime in the second half of this year and begin harnessing the sun’s energy to power the vital operations the Eastern Treatment Plant provides Melbourne every day.”
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 9 March 2022