Australia has an huge potential as a "solar energy farming country", with a very high consistent number of intense sunlight days across many areas of the nation and flat lands suitable for big solar plants arrays.
Barcaldine solar farm is located approximately 5 km east of the central western Queesland township of Barcaldine, on the Capricorn Highway.
This project has been developed by BRCSF (Barcaldine Remote Community Solar Farm Pty Ltd) that is owned by Elecnor Australia Pty Ltd, Company that is a subsidiary of one of the world's leading solar Energy EPC Companies: ELECNOR SA. The solar plant has a surface area of 90 hectares and will consist of 79000 solar modules that will generate indicatively 53.500 MW of renewable energy per year satisfying the consumption of 5300 households. The project has been designed using the "single-axis tracking technology" that allows solar panels to tilt in the direction of the sun during its diurnal movement in the sky, maximizing the total energy generated and the effectiveness and efficiency of each of the panels.
SEA has been selected to supply the transformers for this special projects, this mainly for its reliability in the solar field.
The supply consists of 10 oil immersed hermetic transformers with power rating of 2150 kVA specifically designed for 50°C ambient temperature and according to Australian Regulation and hence, certified under Australian Standard (AS).
SEA was able also to satisfy the very demanding customer's requirements related to low level losses and installation compact dimensions.
This project will be the first large scale PV plant connecting into Ergon Energy’s network system and aims to demonstrate that solar PV technology with single axis tracking can produce high yield solar energy generation over an extended hourly duration and at high levels of operational availability to benefit fringe of grid network systems.
It will also provide a first time opportunity to demonstrate the positive integration of solar PV into the distribution network with an existing power infrastructure including a transmission substation and gas power station (the proximity of the existing infrastructure reduces, in adding, the environmental impact of the additional ones).