Bison signs tracker supply deal for five Australian solar farms

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The Australian arm of Bison Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding with United States-based GameChange Solar, a specialist in fixed-tilt racking and tracker equipment, to work collaboratively to bring five PV projects in New South Wales and Victoria to the market.

Under the agreement, GameChange will supply Bison with its Genius Tracker technology for deployment at the solar farms.

Bison’s Australia and New Zealand Country Director Brendan Murphy said the agreement builds on an existing relationship with GameChange which is working with the developer on a solar project under construction in Victoria.

Bison is currently building the 4.95 MW Bostock Creek Solar Farm, located near Cobden in southwest Victoria. Construction of the facility is expected to be complete in early 2024.

“The racking industry is a tough one but GameChange Solar has managed to find a niche in the market with its efficient pre-assembling and speed clamping designs which the Bison Energy engineering team is very impressed with,” Murphy said.

“In commercial terms, these types of designs save us on install costs, which in the current environment means everything.”

The Bostock Creek Solar Farm is part of a growing portfolio that Bison has assembled since its arrival in the Australian market in 2017.

The company, which developed the 300 MW Walla Walla Solar Farm before Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) acquired the project development rights in 2019, is working on a portfolio of solar projects across NSW and Victoria ranging from sub 5 MW to larger-scale projects from 60 MW up to a new 800 MW solar and battery energy storage project which has just commenced development in southern NSW.

Bison is also working on a pipeline of standalone battery energy storage projects ranging from 5 MW to 100 MW with a mix of 2-4 hours storage.

Among these is the 60 MW/240 MWh Bairnsdale battery energy storage system being developed in southeast Victoria.

Bison said the Bairnsdale project is nearing the final connection approval stages with construction expected to commence in early/mid 2024, and grid connection by early 2025.

In New Zealand, Bison has four solar projects with a combined capacity of almost 100 MW under development.

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