Shares in a community solar and battery project in the New South Wales city of Orange have opened to local investors, as part of a bid to extend the benefits of solar and storage to homes and businesses in the central western region otherwise unable to access them.
The outfit behind the community solar project said on Monday that 917 shares were being offered to members of the Energy Democracy Central West NSW Co-operative at $4,995 a share, which would buy parcels of 2.5kW of panels and 2.5kWh of battery storage.
The community fundraising round is expected to fund just under half of the Orange Community Renewable Energy Park – a 4.9MW solar farm with 4.99MWh of battery energy storage that is being developed by the development arm of ITP Renewables around 6km north-west of the town centre of Orange on the Essential Energy grid.
The project, which has received $3.5 million in state government funding, will also be underwritten by equity from other investors through a fund managed by experienced solar farm asset owner and funds manager Octopus Investments Australia.
Co-op members wishing to invest have the option of having the energy generated by their shareholding deducted from their electricity bill under a “virtual net-metering” arrangement, or sold at best price on the market.
Pay-back for the investment is estimated at between five to seven years under the virtual net-metering option – a saving between $700 and $1000 each year on power bills; and roughly eight years for the investor-only option, providing a return on
investment of up to 12%, the co-op said.
The solar and battery project got the all-clear for development in March of last year, at which time Energy Democracy was able to purchase a 44% share in the project with the help of the grant funding from the NSW government’s Regional Community Energy Fund.
“Australia has seen a massive uptake of rooftop solar, from 8,000 systems in 2008 to over 2.55 million in 2020. That is wonderful if you are fortunate enough to have a suitable roof, but anyone without a suitable roof is unfortunately denied access to this cheaper, cleaner energy,” said the co-op’s chair, Kate Cook, in a letter ahead of the share offering.
“Energy Democracy’s vision is to enable wider participation in the renewable energy revolution that is now underway. The Co-operative model supports a local approach while collaborating with others to leverage initiatives that deliver cheaper power and reduce our impact on the environment.”
The NSW government’s director of energy programs, Arianwyn Lowe, said in a statement on Monday that the benefits of the Orange solar and battery project would extend beyond the members of the co-op to the broader community.
“The Orange Community Renewable Energy Park project provides indirect economic benefits of medium-scale solar PV deployment to regional economies via growth in the number of local solar PV installers and suppliers, opportunities for local electricians, and local economic expenditure and employment for the life of the plant,” Lowe said.
For ITP Development, the Orange community project is part of a portfolio of 25 small utility-scale solar developments being developed by the group across NSW and Victoria that will generate renewable electricity close to the demand load in regional areas.
“This helps to diversify the NSW electricity sector from large scale renewable energy projects,” said ITPD portfolio manager Mishka Talent.
“In addition, the inclusion of battery energy storage to complement variable output from the solar and the community
ownership via a co-operative as a new business model makes this project innovative – technically and commercially.”
Energy Democracy, meanwhile, has three more co-operatives in the pipeline in Australia and New Zealand, including Horsham in Victoria and Mallala in South Australia. To join the Central West NSW co-op, click here.
Sophie is editor of One Step Off The Grid and editor of its sister site, Renew Economy. Sophie has been writing about clean energy for more than a decade.
