Land sought for Surf Coast solar scheme

AN IDEA to create a community-owned solar power bank on the Surf Coast is gaining traction and searching for a local property owner to provide land for infrastructure.

Surf Coast Energy Group (SCEG) is exploring opportunities to create the renewable power site within the Surf Coast Shire.

Under the proposed model, households such as renters, apartment dwellers or with shaded rooftops could own part of the solar bank, which would entitle them to a credit on their power bills for electricity generated.

It would enable these households to experience the benefits of solar power without installing the infrastructure at their own home.

SCEG is considering a one-megawatt system, which the group said could provide energy for around 200 homes.

SCEG founder Graeme Stockton said the community-owned model aimed to allow more Surf Coast households to access solar power.

“It’s able to fit in people that have houses unsuitable to solar.

“Installing a community solar bank enables those people to take advantage of the renewable energy and lower energy costs.”

The organisation’s main stumbling block is finding land to house the bulky solar infrastructure.

The site must be near power poles carrying at least three electricity lines to connect to power grids.

A 1MW system would require about two hectares of land as a conventional ground-mounted system, or 0.6 hectares for a compact structure.

Mr Stockton said SCEG was seeking either a donation or negotiate a fair lease with a Surf Coast landowner that would help make the project a reality.

“That enables the community to then go forward with certainty for that solar bank,” he said.

“The whole idea is about equity across our community.”

“If the land is not doing anything and… [landowners] want to participate in community development that involves this issue of equity, then it’s not so much the financial reward that’s important.

“It’s more about being involved in making the world a better place.

“It’s not like we’re trying to set a precedent here. There are examples from other places and from around the world where this precisely this sort of thing has happened, and they’re just maybe people that have got land that is not productive, that maybe could be useful.”