A 53MW solar plant has been given the green light to start construction at Broken Hill, NSW and will be completed by the end of 2015.

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has approved the Construction Environmental Management Plans for the project which can now focus on the construction phase. The project will be built by First Solar on behalf of AGL Energy. The project is to be partly funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) under the Labor Governments Solar Flagship program.

It is being built as part of a broader project that includes a 103MW solar plant in Nyngan. The finished solar plant will consist of over 650,000 solar PV modules, covering an area of approximately 140 hectares.

AGL’s project manager for the Broken Hill Solar Plant, Adam Mackett, is excited to be moving on from the planning phase and into construction.

AGL says it will be discussing the next stage of construction at the fourth Broken Hill Solar Plant community information session today (Wednesday 5th Novemeber) at the Broken Hill Centre for Community.

“We remain committed to continuing to hold regular community information sessions to help ensure the local community is kept informed about the project and also has the opportunity to meet the project team face-to-face to ask any questions they may have,” Mackett said in a statement.