Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy Anthony Roberts and Minister for the Environment Mark Speakman visited the site to celebrate the milestone on Friday.

Representatives from AGL, First Solar, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and the Nyngan community were on hand to celebrate the progress of the 102-megawatt plant. 

“The $290 million Nyngan solar plant is a major investment in renewable energy and demonstrates the NSW government’s commitment to clean energy generation,” Mr Speakman said. 

“This 250-hectare field contains 1.36 million solar panels and will provide enough clean electricity to power 33,000 NSW homes when fully operational.”

Mr Speakman said the government was serious about supporting renewable energy, having provided $65 million in funding for the Nyngan project and a further 53MW solar plant under construction near Broken Hill, which after Nyngan would be the second largest solar plant in Australia. 

“Together, these solar plants will generate enough electricity to power more than 50,000 homes across NSW,” Mr Roberts said.

He said NSW was at the forefront of large-scale solar and renewable energy. 

“NSW is leading Australia in supporting the clean energy sector, which supports more than 13,000 jobs, contributes to lower energy costs and provides employment and investment in regional communities,” he said. 

“The share of renewable energy in NSW’s electricity generation mix has almost doubled in the past five years with approximately 13 per cent of our energy generation coming from renewable sources in 2013. 

“This project will set an example that will help drive further investment in large scale solar in regional NSW and across Australia.”

AGL managing director and chief executive officer, Andy Vesey said the Nyngan Solar Plant was impressive on an Australian and world scale.

“Low-emission technology like our Nyngan Solar Plant is an important part of AGL’s journey towards a decarbonised electricity generation sector,” he said.

First Solar’s Regional Manager for Asia Pacific Jack Curtis said the project was helping to advance the commercialisation of large-scale solar photo-voltaic (PV) in Australia.

“First Solar’s modules have dramatically improved in efficiency in recent years and this project demonstrates the increasing commercial competitiveness of our technology,” he said. 

“Utility scale solar PV is already cost competitive with conventional generation in many parts of the world and will increasingly deliver economic stimulus to rural Australia.”