480 MW in Australia: Spain-based ACCIONA Energía has commissioned and started commercial operations of its 480 MW Aldoga Solar Farm in Australia’s Queensland. The facility has a 100% offtake agreement with the state-owned energy company Stanwell Corporation under a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA). ACCIONA says it procured up to AUD 150 million in materials, components, and services from local businesses and suppliers for this project and created 350 local jobs during peak periods. ACCIONA says it considers Australia a strategic country in its plans as it has almost 2 GW of renewable energy projects installed or under construction across wind and solar technologies.
Solar PV manufacturing in Pakistan: China’s Hebei Juhang Energy Technology Group has expressed interest in establishing a large-scale solar panel manufacturing plant in Pakistan. It aims for the proposed factory to meet domestic demand and to explore export markets. Company Chairman Wang Jianbin met Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Board of Investment (BOI), Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh, recently as part of the China-Pakistan Business Forum. Sheikh welcomed the proposals, saying that the government is prepared to allocate 6,000 acres of land for investment purposes and other incentives, including zero income tax for the initial 10 years to encourage foreign investments in sectors with strong growth and export potential. This includes solar energy, manufacturing, among others. Recently, Pakistan took the Korean government’s help to establish a solar panel testing laboratory in the country (see Pakistan Inaugurates Country’s First Solar Panel Testing Lab).
33 MW solar farm in New Zealand: NewPower Energy, a solar and storage projects company based in New Zealand, has announced the launch of operations at its 33 MW Taiohi Solar Farm in Rangiriri, north of Hamilton. Equipped with 47,000 solar panels, the project was constructed by Infratec and supported by Feisst Electrical Ltd, Trilect Oceania, and PGS Profab. NewPower will own and operate the project. Both NewPower and Infratec are WEL Networks’ subsidiaries. Additionally, the company has also purchased a 30 MW solar project from Lightyears Solar. It is fully consented to come up outside of Cambridge. Construction is planned to begin in early 2026 for commissioning in early 2027. The site is designed to accommodate livestock grazing.
Funding for 113 MW in the Philippines: Citicore Renewable Energy Corporation (CREC) has secured a PHP 3.975 billion project finance loan to help it complete the 113 MW Citicore Solar Pangasinan 2 Project (CS Pangasinan 2) in the Philippines’ Binalonan, Pangasinan. The company entered into a loan facility agreement with the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI). CREC says the CS Pangasinan 2 is one of its 3 projects in the province, together with CS Pangasinan in Sta. Barbara, which is a wind energy project under construction. It won these 3 projects in the Green Energy Auction Program 2 (GEA-2) in 2023, securing a 20-year offtake contract with the government (see Philippines Concludes GEA-2 Auction Round).
30 MW commissioned in New Zealand: The Pāmu Rā ki Whitianga Solar Farm, a 30 MW PV project, is now operational in New Zealand’s Coromandel region. Lodestone Energy commissioned it as the company’s 4th solar farm on the outskirts of Whitianga township as the region’s first utility-scale solar farm. Once fully ramped up, the project will generate close to 49 GWh of certified renewable energy annually with 53,400 solar panels. Built as an agrivoltaic project, it will enable sheep grazing on site, ensuring dual land use as an electricity generator and a farming location. It will supply the electricity generated to the Coromandel Network through a new switching station built by local electricity network operator Powerco.