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FRV Australia’s Winton Solar Farm grants power up youth training, community sustainability 

February 6, 2022

Organisers of a ‘Hands on Trades Day’ for North East Victoria will proceed with plans to promote career pathways for students and build a skilled, innovative and local workforce in the region thanks to a Community Grant from the Winton Solar Farm.

This annual event aims to support high school students from Benalla, Mansfield and Wangaratta Shires to consider existing and new trades – including solar engineering and management, an industry that has seen recent growth with several new solar farms in the area. Local students completing Structured Workplace Learning placements form part of the event organising committee and hospitality teams and are involved in co-designing the event.

NE Tracks Chief Executive Officer, Danny O’Donoghue, said: “The solar farm grant would allow more locals school kids to get involved in the event. On behalf of local schools, and especially students in North East Victoria we are delighted to receive this grant from Winton Solar Farm. It will help more students have access to a better resourced careers day and help them to develop the skills they need”.

This year’s Hands on Trades career expo will go ahead on Thursday 5 May. Local students are encouraged to register to attend.

Four other community groups were recently awarded a share of the Solar Farm’s second annual $35,000 Community Grant Program.

Winners of this year’s Winton Community Grants and funded projects are:

  • Benalla Hockey Club to fund new portable shade gazebos for tournaments.
  • Winton Primary School – development of a new sustainable outdoor kitchen garden.
  • Benalla Sustainable Future Group – to install new solar panels at Bernard Briggs Pre-school.
  • NE Tracks for their ACRE youth entrepreneurship program and annual secondary school student ‘Hands On Trades Day’ careers event.
  • Glenrowan Primary School – to upgrade their school cooking learning classroom.

FRV Australia Managing Director, Carlo Frigerio, said “I am thrilled to see another round of strong applications and initiatives come through the Community Grants Fund. The Winton, Benalla and surrounding areas are home to some creative thinkers, and we are excited to see another round of innovative projects come through. These community grants are an opportunity to kick start some exciting projects and deliver meaningful investment for the local community”.

Output from the 85MW Winton Solar Farm to date has been impressive. It is expected to generate around 210,000 MWh/Year – enough clean energy for 52,000 homes.

In a further development, Winton Solar Farm has also reached mutual agreement with a project neighbour to introduce sheep to the solar site. Just under 600 are currently grazing the site, helping to maintain grass levels around the solar farm and avoiding use of mechanical and chemical weed management.

Near neighbour, Tony Mort, stated: “It’s great to be a part of Winton Solar Farm’s thinking as to how the land can be utilized for more than just power generation”.

“It’s early days and both the solar farm and I are on a learning curve but I’m wrapt they have chosen to work with neighbours as I believe this is a win-win situation,” he said.

To date, Winton Solar Farm has provided $120,000 to the local community. This includes a major partnership with the Regent Honeyeater Project to plant an additional eleven hectares of native vegetation and improve critical biodiversity corridors in the region.

Community Grants will be open for applications again in late 2022.

 

FRV Updates

Now in its fifth year, the Winton Solar Farm Community Grants Program continues to champion local organisations turning community-focused ideas into action.

As part of this year’s Grant program, five recipients will share in $30,000 of funding to deliver initiatives that strengthen connection, enhance liveability, and create lasting benefits for the Benalla region and surrounds.

The 2025 Winton Solar Farm Community Grants recipients and their funded projects are:

  • Zonta Wangaratta – for digital signage advocating against domestic violence during the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence
  • Benalla Scouts Group – to upgrade the solar system at the Benalla Scout Hall with 20 new solar panels, a new inverter, a battery system, and an upgraded switchboard
  • Wangaratta Baptist Church – to support and expand the reach of Thread Together, a clothing assistance program
  • Border Triathlon Squad – to host a series of bicycle maintenance training workshops for children and teens aged 8 – 16
  • Laceby West Rural Fire Brigade – to purchase two thermal imaging cameras for firefighters to detect and extinguish hotspots, preventing reignition.

Since launching in 2021, the Community Grants Program has grown into a valued platform for supporting local ideas, with more than $150,000 invested across 26 community projects.

From small-scale renewable energy infrastructure to sustainability initiatives and youth programs, the program has helped bring a wide range of community-led projects to life – each helping to build a stronger, more connected, and sustainable future for the Benalla region and surrounds.

FRV Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Carlo Frigerio, said the program continues to demonstrate the power of local knowledge, leadership, and collaboration.

“Seeing community-driven projects come to life is always a highlight. It’s exciting to watch them grow from local ideas to real-world outcomes that deliver meaningful, lasting benefits for the communities they support,” he said.

“The success of this year’s program is a testament to the passion and dedication of the community groups driving these initiatives. We have consistently been impressed by the calibre of applications, and the thought, care and local insight behind each project.”

While this year marks the final round of the Winton Solar Farm Grants Program, FRV Australia remains committed to supporting community growth and wellbeing through other initiatives, including through the project’s partnership with the Regent Honeyeater Project.

FRV Australia would like to thank the community for their involvement and enthusiasm this year.

For more information about the Winton Solar Farm and Community Grants Program please visit www.wintonsolarfarm.com.

 

About the Winton Solar Farm

Winton Solar Farm received Planning Approval in early 2018 and is has been built on a private 250-hectare site approximately 25km southwest of Wangaratta. This location is well suited to a solar farm, with very high levels of sunlight and proximity to the existing electricity grid.

The solar farm will also contribute to the achievement of Victoria’s renewable energy target. Following a 2018 public tender process, Winton Solar Farm was awarded a 15-year support agreement by the State Government for clean energy generated by the project. The tender was part of the Government’s Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) to source 25 percent of its electricity production from renewables by 2020 increasing to 50% by 2030.

Construction of the 85-megawatt (MW) Solar Farm was completed in 2021, and the asset is now up and running. The solar farm has an operating life of around 30 years.

 

About FRV Services

FRV Australia is one of the largest solar developers, asset owners and renewable energy platforms in Australia and one of the first solar developers to enter the Australian market and the first company to deliver a project-financed large scale solar farm in Australia with the Royalla Solar Farm near Canberra operating since August 2014. The company has developed almost 800MWdc of Australian PV assets built or under construction across 9 projects for a total project investment value of over 1 billion dollars. The activities are based in Sydney and the company has a multidisciplinary team of over 40 employees. With the ambition to continue leading the global transition to a more sustainable energy future. FRV Australia has evolved from being just a developer to becoming an independent power producer.

The company is owned by Abdul Latif Jameel Energy, a world leader in the development of sustainable energy solutions (51%) and OMERS, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans (49%); the OMERS stake is managed by OMERS Infrastructure, a global leader in infrastructure investing.

For more information, please contact Eleni Sgardelis – 0435 861 682

Bernard Briggs Pre-school is expected to save around $1500 a year on electricity, thanks to some newly installed solar panels.

Benalla Hockey Club and Glenrowan Primary School have been hard at work upgrading sports equipment and school facilities. Both have been recipients of the recent Community Grants Program, with funding allocated to support community lead initiatives.

MOREE SOLAR FARM

Moree Solar Farm began operations in 2016 and was the first large-scale solar project in Australia to use a single-axis tracking system.

 

Lilyvale Solar Farm near Emerald, Queensland (100MW)

Financial close of the Lilyvale Solar Farm was achieved during September 2017 with operations expected to commence in 2018. The project will benefit from a PPA with Ergon Energy, the QLD-government owned retailer, part of the Energy Queensland group, who will purchase 100% of the electricity generated by the project.