19 February 2018 – Stellata Energy (‘Stellata’), and its joint venture partner, Ingenious Infrastructure, today announces it has successfully reached several milestones in the development of the largest solar project in Western Australia (WA), Merredin Solar Farm (132MWp).  Firstly, the Company has entered into a grid connection contract with Western Power. The deal, signed on 19 December, secures the Interconnection Works Contract (IWC) and Electricity Transfer Access Contract (ETAC) for the project.  During the same month, an Electricity Generation Licence was also granted by the Economic Regulation Authority, making the project the largest solar farm in WA to have reached this point.  Merredin has also now received Certified Reserve Capacity level with AEMO and is expected to sign its EPC contract in March this year. Successfully reaching these milestones ensures that construction remains on track to commence in June 2018, with energisation anticipated for June 2019.

The development of Merredin Solar Farm positions Stellata as one of the leading solar developers in WA, whose partnership with Ingenious commits to funding a pipeline of utility scale solar farms across the state. Together, the partnership brings a wealth of knowledge to the project with collective expertise spanning financing, developing and operating solar projects across the globe.

Commenting on the developments, Guy Beesley, Managing Director, Stellata said: “Securing the generation licence, grid connection and reserve capacity credits for Merredin Solar Farm represents a huge step forward for our partnership and the Merredin project, having only received planning permission in June last year. Now that the contracts are in place, we look forward to commencing construction and furthering our efforts to bring clean, renewable electricity to Western Australians.”