10 MW Northam solar farm stacks capacity, LGC revenue to make merchant work

Carnegie Clean Energy will rely on Large-scale Generation Certificate (LGC) and WA capacity market payments on top of wholesale electricity prices on the SWIS to make its 10 MW Northam solar project work. The company broke ground on the project yesterday, in a ceremony attended by WA treasurer and energy minister Ben Wyatt.

Ottaviano: “Carnegie may choose to sell down its interest as well at some point. You have got to remember that solar power is cheap power, particularly once you bank your LGCs and you’ve got your capacity stream.”

Image: Energy Made Clean

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Making merchant solar farms stack up financially is no simple business. Carnegie Clean Energy has revealed how it intends to make its 10 MW Northam solar farm viable, as work commences on the project.

When speaking to The West Australian, Carnegie CEO Michael Ottaviano said that through securing revenues from three sources, he is “very comfortable” with the financial risk the project represents, “at least for the next few years.”

“You have got to remember that solar power is cheap power, particularly once you bank your LGCs and you’ve got your capacity stream,” Ottaviano told The West.

Carnegie subsidiary Energy Made Clean will construct the plant. Lendlease, Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) and Bookitja Ptd Ltd, a subsidiary of the Perth Noongar Foundation, are partnering on the project.

The project is the first renewable energy investment by both the IBA and Bookija.

In a statement announcing the project, Wyatt, who is of Yamatji heritage and a former IBA board member, pointed to the employment opportunities the construction of the Northam project will present to Aboriginal businesses and for ongoing Noongar employment.

“This project is particularly exciting because of the opportunities it will provide to local Aboriginal people and businesses as a result of the joint venture,” said Wyatt in a statement.

Carnegie’s Ottaviano hinted that the WA-based developer might look to sign a PPA with an offtaker or sell down its stake once the project has established an “operational history”.

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