The Cultana Solar Farm is designed to deliver a range of benefits to the community, grid and environment throughout its life, from construction through to energisation and ongoing operation.
The project is forecast to create around 700 direct jobs during its construction phase, many of which will be recruited from the local community.
Once the solar farm is energised, it is anticipated there will be approximately 10 ongoing operation and maintenance positions comprising skilled trades that will either be drawn from or added to the local community.
Indirectly, the project is expected to create increased employment for local service industries such as hospitality, retail, supermarkets, rental properties and the like, as the project creates an increased requirement for services to support the solar farm workforce.
SIMEC Energy Australia will be hosting Expression of Interest sessions in the local community as the project progresses, to ensure that local business have primary opportunities to be involved with supporting the needs of the project. In line with the direct employment strategy, the Project Team is committed to a “local first” approach to support services to maximise the benefits for the local community.
As part of filling the direct employment requirements of the project, SIMEC Energy Australia is committed to the upskilling of indigenous and local people to meet the employment needs of this development.
The upskilling of these people will create a legacy for the local workforce as well.
Once fully energised, the Cultana Solar Farm is forecast to generate around 600 gigawatt hours of renewable energy per year – equivalent to the energy requirements of almost 100,000 average South Australian homes – drawn from 780,000 solar panels across an area 550 times larger than Adelaide Oval.
The energy generated will support the energy requirements of GFG’s Whyalla Primary Steel plant, and contribute to the national electricity grid via the existing Cultana and Whyalla substations. The use of this energy is also forecast to offset 492,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide that would have otherwise been created from traditional energy generation every year.