Victoria’s Bannerton Solar Park is giving a new lease of life to land no longer suitable for almond production. The 88 MW solar development is built on land at Almas Almonds, near Robinvale in the Sunraysia district in Victoria. The almond farm benefits from leasing the land around its orchards to the solar farm, generating an additional revenue stream for its business.
320,000
solar panels
30,000
homes powered
~$98m
CEFC commitment
We're particularly proud that Bannerton has been successful in the tender to provide clean power to the Melbourne Tram network, supporting the Victorian State Government's target of 40 per cent renewables by 2025.Ricardo PineiroPartner, Foresight Group
Our investment
The CEFC committed ~$98 million in debt finance towards the project, alongside equity from the UK’s Foresight Solar Fund Limited, the Korean Infrastructure Asset Management Company and Korea's Hanwha Energy. The project is being developed by a joint venture between independent global infrastructure and private equity investment manager Foresight Group and Syncline Energy, a Victoria-based developer.
our impact
The 320,000-panel plant generates enough power to supply around 30,000 homes with solar energy. A significant proportion of its output has been contracted in separate agreements with Alinta Energy and the Victorian Government.
The Bannerton project is helping build diversity in Victoria’s evolving renewable energy mix. The project’s inverters, which convert the solar DC electricity to AC electricity for export to the network, help provide voltage support for the grid, so the project meets requirements for continuous uninterrupted operations in the event of grid faults.
