Epho to Design and Construct Canberra’s First Community Solar Farm

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Media Release – Epho Pty Ltd

Epho to design and construct Canberra’s first community solar farm

  • 1.3 megawatt of solar power

  • Co-owned by 400 local community members

  • Power for the equivalent of 325 Canberra homes

  • 2.4 GWh of electricity each year

  • 1200 Tonnes CO2 abatement each year

Epho Commercial Solar has signed a contract with SolarShare to design and construct Canberra’s first community solar farm in the Majura Valley. The 1.3 megawatt solar farm with single-axis tracker technology is a power plant which is co-owned by members of the nearby community and demonstrates how the broader community can power Australia’s clean recovery coming out of a pandemic.

SolarShare is a member-owned business designed to encourage member shareholders to have a closer connection with the activities of the enterprise. As the climate is changing, so is society. SolarShare is part of the shift to an economy where communities have an important part to play in their energy choices. “We needed a partner who understood the complexity of the project and would work with us through the challenges of a community solar farm. Epho had been supporting our efforts for a couple of years, so the Epho Team was the most compelling choice of solar company in terms of costs, results, and risks for the execution phase of our solar farm” said Lawrence McIntosh, SolarShare’s Principal Executive Officer

“The size of this project is relatively small compared to large utility-scale solar farms and large compared to the typical residential or commercial solar projects. SolarShare needed a reliable and capable partner for the size of this project and Epho perfectly fitted this criteria, since we have designed, constructed and also operate many industrial solar power stations of this size around the country”, explained Dr Oliver Hartley, Epho’s Managing Director. “We have successfully delivered hundreds of projects in the industrial space up to 6 MW in size”, said Oliver.

“We have now entered the detailed design phase and are excited to commence construction in August. The solar farm will start generating clean, renewable energy before Christmas this year”, said Axel La Toison, Epho’s Senior Project Manager, responsible for the project. “SolarShare has the comfort of Epho’s project delivery capabilities demonstrated many times for some of Australia’s largest corporations such as Brisbane Airport Corporation, multi-phase solar rollouts for ALDI, solar urban power stations for DHL, Goodman, Dexus, Charter Hall and many other industrial property companies”.

“We are very happy to play our role in this exciting project, where the community comes together to make a difference and to drive Australia’s clean recovery”, said Matt Scaddan, Epho’s head of Business Development. “We hope it will inspire similar activities across the country”.

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About Epho

Epho delivers end to end solar energy solutions for large corporate organisations across Australia. The company develops, engineers, procures, constructs, commissions, operates and maintains as well as owns commercial solar power systems that increase its clients’ profitability by reducing ongoing operational costs. The company is fully ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and AS 4801 accredited and provides services to some of Australia’s largest corporations.

( www.epho.com.au )

Media contact: Matt Scaddan, m.scaddan@epho.com.au; 0452 286 690

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