Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) has announced that it has signed an agreement with Snowy Hydro, a major electricity generation and retailing company in Australia, for the supply of clean energy in New South Wales, Australia.

FRV is a subsidiary of Abdul Latif Jameel Energy, a Saudi-based service provider of operations and maintenance in the renewable energy sector. Under the terms of the agreement, FRV will deliver solar power that is generated from the 90MWac Sebastopol Solar Farm in the State of New South Wales, Australia.

According to the statement, the plant will connect to the national grid and its generation will be enough to supply energy to over 40,000 Australian households. Additionally, it will avoid the emission of approximately 77,600 tonnes of CO2 annually, the equivalent of taking about 27,700 cars off the road each year.

This is the second PPA signed by FRV with Snowy Hydro following the successful bid for the 68.7 MWac Goonumbla Solar Farm as part of the Snowy Hydro Renewable Energy Procurement Program in 2018, which is currently in the final stages of construction, the company stated.

Maintenance contracts for jobs such as panel cleaning, fence repair, and road grading will also be required and will likely be met by local contractors or subcontractors, the Saudi developer added.

Fady Jameel, deputy president and vice chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel, said this announcement marks a new milestone for FRV in Australia.

“The devastating Australian bushfires have started 2020 off with a stark reminder of the reality of global warming, and the urgent need to address climate change. Together with our partners, FRV and Snowy Hydro, Abdul Latif Jameel is committed to playing an active role in developing clean energy solutions and ultimately contributing to create a more sustainable future for the world,” he added.

Paul Broad, CEO at Snowy Hydro, said the company was constantly on the lookout for renewable energy offtake opportunities across the eastern-states.

“Through our peaking generation assets we have the capacity to support and ‘firm’ significant amounts of intermittent wind and solar. Following the timely development of Goonumbla, which Snowy Hydro supported through an offtake agreement signed in 2018, we are confident of the same success with Sebastopol.”

“Snowy Hydro has significant capacity to firm up and store intermittent renewable energy generation. Our flexible portfolio of fast-start assets allows us to supply our customers with 24/7 renewable energy, lowering prices and increasing energy security,” he concluded.