Solar Farm Engineering
Solar power in Australia is a growing industry. As of January 2019, Australia had over 11,000 MW of installed photovoltaic (PV) solar power, of which nearly 4,000 MW were installed in the preceding 12 months. This now places Australia in the Worlds top ten solar countries.
PV Solar Power generation accounted for nearly 4% of Australia’s electrical energy production in 2017. Feed-in tariffs and renewable energy targets designed to assist renewable energy commercialisation in Australia have largely been responsible for the rapid increase and development of new PV sites.
The scale of the projects undertaken has grown almost exponentially; the first commercial-scale PV power plant, a 1 MW Solar Power Station, was opened in 2011, but in 2018/2019 new Solar Farm projects in the 200-300MW plus generation capacity are currently under construction.
Bligh Tanner is proud to provide Civil and Structural Engineering design advice to our valued clients who are building some of the largest Solar farm projects in the country and enhancing the renewable power generation capacity of the sector. Our services include:
- Early advice on flooding and stormwater management, and site grading analysis to assist in the optimization of the PV arrays and site layouts
- Development of detailed Stormwater Management Strategies and Reports for Council approvals
- Site access and internal road layout and pavement designs for construction and operation / maintenance phases
- Minimisation and optimisation of earthworks for access roads, parking and substations
- Structural design of PV array and substation piling / foundations systems
- Design of site fencing and foundation systems
- Site set out and modelling
In the Engineering Procurement Construction setting, we have a clear appreciation for construction issues and the appropriate standard of infrastructure for both construction and operational phases where security and reliability are paramount, but where operation and maintenance inputs are minimal.
We see a complementary wave of grid scale energy storage systems emerging on the project horizon. Similarly, we expect a number of energy independence /resilience projects become important where storage and generation are integrated at remote locations. Bligh Tanner are well positioned to bring our skills to this exciting and developing sector.
