Gullen Solar Farm
The Gullen Solar Farm project is an operational solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant with an installed capacity of 10MW. The solar farm is co-located within the existing Gullen Range Wind Farm making Gullen Range the first large-scale co-located wind and solar farm in Australia. Locating the solar farm adjacent to the wind farm minimises required infrastructure (such as roads, power lines and telecommunications), meaning a reduction in environmental impact and project cost. Construction of the solar farm was supported by a grant from ARENA.
The solar farm consists of 42,000 solar panels and first generated electricity in 2017. It produces approximately 22,000 megawatt-hours of clean renewable energy each year, which is enough energy to supply approximately 3,100 NSW homes. The operating life of the solar farm will be 25 – 30 years.
BJCE Australia is proud to be a founding signatory of the Clean Energy Council’s Best Practice Charter for Renewable Energy Developments. The charter is a voluntary set of commitments to reflect our promise to develop and operate projects in a socially responsible way. The charter can be downloaded here.
Please feel free to contact us if you would like further information, or if you would like to provide feedback or lodge a complaint about the solar farm.
News
The latest solar farm news is below. You can view all our news here.
News Item: 20/12/2024: Merry Christmas from BJCE Australia
From all of us at BJCE Australia, we wish you and your family a safe, joyous Christmas and a happy New Year.
During the festive season, our office will be closed from 21 December 2024 to 5 January 2025 inclusive.
You can still contact us via email and we will respond after we return on 6 January 2025. If you require more immediate assistance, please phone our toll-free numbers below.
- Biala Wind Farm – 1800 370 045
- Gullen Range Wind Farm – 1800 509 711
- Gullen Solar Farm – 1800 725 270
If there is an emergency, please dial 000.
News Item: 20/12/2024: December Community Newsletter
The December edition of our community newsletter is now available for download here.
News item: 31/10/2024: Gullen Range Wind Farm welcomes Crookwell High School students
Year 8 students from Crookwell High School visited Gullen Range Wind Farm on 30 October to undertake a site tour. The group were given an introduction to the wind farm substation for an understanding of how energy is generated and distributed to the grid, as well as having the chance to check out the safety equipment used by our site team.
The students then had the opportunity to get up close to a turbine and gain insights into how the turbines operate. All of the students (and teachers) marvelled at size and scale of the structures.
Finally, the group toured to Gullen Range Solar Farm to learn about the country’s first ever co-located solar farm.
It was great to see so many students engaged in deepening their understanding of the renewable energy industry, and to have the chance to share more about our day-to-day work at the wind farm.
Local Rural Fire Service (RFS) station representatives will be visiting Biala and Gullen Range Wind Farms, as well as Gullen Solar Farm, on Friday, 27th of September. This is an annual exercise to ensure that local RFS services are familiar with the wind and solar farms’, access points and water sources to prepare for the coming fire season.
RFS trucks from stations at Crookwell, Bannister, Grabben Gullen and Biala will meet at the Biala Wind Farm entrance before driving through the internal access roads across both wind farm sites. We will also be hosting a BBQ lunch with the representatives to allow for an opportunity to further discuss bushfire preparedness.
Successful recipients of the 2024/25 Gullen Range Wind Farm Community Fund have been announced, with six local groups receiving support for initiatives ranging from publicly accessible defibrillators for the Crookwell community to improvements to a new machinery shed for the local golf course maintenance association.
The grants were assessed by the Gullen Range Wind Farm Community Fund S355 Committee and were approved in the June 2024 Ordinary Meeting of Council.
More than $60,000 was provided in funding across the successful applications this year, which included:
Rotary Club of Crookwell: Defibrillators for Crookwell ($4,900, plus a commitment of up to an additional $5,000 to cover maintenance costs for five years)
Bannister District Hall Association: A Hall for All – Storage and Maintenance ($2,164.80)
Anglican Church (Parish of Crookwell), St George’s Church, Kialla: Fencing works ($7,222,60)
Goulburn Crookwell Heritage Railway: Procurement of a 40-foot shipping container ($5,400)
Goulburn Crookwell Heritage Railway: Relocation of Pay Bus FP12 ($1,320)
Crookwell Golf Course Maintenance Association Inc: New Machinery Shed ($40,000)
News item: 23/08/2024: Gullen Range helps to inspire a future in STEM for local students
Gullen Range Wind Farm representatives attended the “Keep Local and Build a Future in STEM” event at Mulwaree High School on 20-21 August, with more than 80 students working in groups to complete various challenges. The event is designed to encourage high school students to not only consider a career in STEM, but to explore some of the fantastic job opportunities in the field in the local area.
Gullen Range Site Manager Andrew Sinclair talked students through his career path into renewable energy, as well as some of the diverse opportunities for employment in the construction and operation of wind farms in the local area. Students were then tasked with a STEM challenge – to build the most efficient wind turbine. Using blades of differing lengths, weights and angles, students worked together to test out various designs to come up with the best model. With stiff competition from all of the schools across the two days, it was great to see the students so engaged! Crookwell High narrowly came out on top with a late entry that managed to deliver the highest voltage design.
Thank you to the Department of Education’s Regional Industry Education Partnerships team who helped to organise and facilitate such a wonderful and engaging STEM event.
News item: 20/06/2024: June Community Newsletter
The June 2024 Community Update is now available to read and download here.