UNSW Sydney has announced a tripartite arrangement with contract partners Maoneng Australia (Maoneng) and Origin Energy (Origin) for an offsite Solar PV Corporate Power Purchase Agreement (Solar PPA).
The 15-year solar supply agreement with Maoneng is the first of its kind in Australia – bringing together a retailer, developer and corporate – and will allow UNSW to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality on energy use by 2020. UNSW Sydney believe that they are the first University worldwide to go fully energy carbon neutral with 100% of its needs supplied from solar PV.
“This landmark initiative is an exciting step towards realising UNSW’s goal of carbon neutrality on energy use by 2020 and reflects our commitment to making a positive global impact,” said UNSW President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Jacobs.
“The Solar PPA arrangement will allow UNSW to secure carbon emission free electricity supplies at a cost which is economically and environmentally attractive when compared to fossil fuel sourced supplies.
“Over the past six months, UNSW has collaborated with our contract partners Maoneng and Origin, to develop a Solar PPA model that leads the way in renewable energy procurement and reflects our commitment to global impact outlined in our 2025 Strategy.
“It is also highly significant and a testament to the world-class research carried out here at UNSW, that a technology which we played a leading role in developing is now being used to provide the university with a renewable source of emissions free energy.
“UNSW researchers, in particular Professor Martin Green and the late Professor Stuart Wenham and their teams, have been instrumental in ensuring that solar energy is affordable and accessible to all – today’s announcement is a testament to their work,” said Jacobs.
The agreement, which was signed on 14 December 2017, will see UNSW purchase up to 124,000 MWh of renewable energy per annum from Maoneng’s Sunraysia Solar Farm located near Balranald in south western NSW, meeting UNSW’s annual energy requirement starting in 2019.
A three-year retail firming contract was also signed with Origin, as the electricity retailer, to manage the intermittency of solar production.
NSW Minister for Energy, Don Harwin says the agreement is evidence of UNSW’s leadership in renewables.
“Already a world leader in solar PV technologies, this agreement is yet another demonstration of UNSW’s commitment to a clean energy future,” said Harwin.
“I congratulate UNSW for entering into this agreement, it’s not only great for the environment but it will deliver jobs and investment in regional NSW”.
In December 2017, UNSW’s School of Photovoltaic and Renewable Energy Engineering was awarded 12 projects with a total cash grant value of over $16 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), of which five projects are focusing on the further development of UNSW’s Advanced Hydrogenation technology to improve world record commercial solar cells.
The tripartite arrangement for UNSW was supported by Norton Rose Fulbright as legal advisors who specialise in PPAs, along with energy management consulting firm, Energy Action, who provided energy market analysis and advice.
The Sunraysia Solar Farm development will include a Visitor’s Centre and Weather Monitoring System, with UNSW staff and students having site visit access for data sharing, research and case study purposes. An annual financial scholarship worth $10K is included in the Solar PPA for local students studying at Balranald Central School to attend UNSW, along with a series of presentations from UNSW to the school both onsite and via webinar on renewables technology and industry. Employment of local staff and subcontractors to develop the project is also encouraging for the local economy.
Construction of the Sunraysia Solar Farm is due to commence later this year, with completion and the start of solar energy generation expected in the second quarter of 2019.