Origin scraps plan for 204 MW of Aussie solar as rising costs loom

Solar panels in New South Wales. Image by NSW Department of Planning and Environment (www.planning.nsw.gov.au/).

Australian power and gas producer Origin Energy Ltd (ASX:ORG) has cancelled plans for the further development of 204 MW of solar power projects at home on concerns that rising costs would make the investments unviable.

Origin Energy says in its 2024 sustainability report that the 130-MW Morgan solar project in South Australia is no longer being pursued due to unfavourable conditions, while the 74-MW Carisbrook in Victoria is unlikely to achieve a “suitable return on investment" and has been impaired. According to its latest report for the fiscal year ended June 2024, the Carisbrook impairment amounts to AUD 16 million (USD 10.8m/EUR 9.7m).

Origin Energy bought the Carisbrook photovoltaic (PV) project in 2022 from German solar developer ib vogt GmbH when the scheme was fully permitted. The proposal envisaged the installation of solar panels across 300 hectares of land used for cropping and grazing activities east of Maryborough.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.673/EUR 0.607)

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