Welcome to the Grong Grong Solar Farm website. We are super excited to announce its launch, which has been under development for three years!
The project started over a coffee between renewable energy specialist Jonathan Prendergast and his friend Gemma Purcell, a farmer in Grong Grong. Together they wondered:
Why are there only massive solar farms? Solar is scalable, and can be big or small, so wouldn’t it be great if solar farms were more accessible to regional communities and everyday Australians?
They wanted to find out, so Jonathan engaged his Komo Energy partner Gerald Arends on the project, who was keen to get involved:
“Community scale solar is common in Germany, which is where I’m from originally. To connect with Gemma and find such a supportive host in the town of Grong Grong was crucial to allow us to test this in Australia,” explains Gerald.
Jonathan and Gerald travelled to Grong Grong to secure a lease for a solar farm, a five hectare patch on a 160 hectare farming lot. The pair commenced planning and grid studies, partnering with Community Power Agency and Pingala to secure a $1.3 million grant from the NSW Regional Community Energy Fund.
Today, the project is ready for finance.
Grong Grong Solar Farm is a 1.7 MW solar farm that will generate approximately 3.7 million kilowatt-hours per annum, enough to power 400 homes. It is a $4 million project, with a mix of government grant, solar garden and equity funding.
The project will raise approximately $700,000 in equity funding. Crowd equity in Grong Grong Solar Farm will be open to every Australian via Birchal as a unique opportunity to invest in new solar farms and accelerate our transition to a renewable energy grid. Once funded, the solar farm will head into construction later in 2022.
Grong Grong Solar farm will supply electricity into the local grid, and earn revenue from the NSW wholesale market, as well as selling Renewable Energy Certificates, known as “LGCs” in Australia.
The project is battery ready, with planning modification and grid studies including a 2,300kWh battery – enough to soak up one quarter of daily generation and supply into the grid at peak demand and receive higher prices. A transformer and solar inverter are in place too, so the battery is plug and play.
“Having the project battery ready is very exciting, because as the energy market changes, it adds flexibility and resilience to the project,” explains Jonathan.
Stay tuned for more updates! Fill in the form below to receive our newsletters, like our Facebook page and attend an event or webinar to find out more along the way on this exciting journey…