AS Victoria’s largest solar farm nears completion, one local business in Ouyen is still waiting to be paid for services it provided more than 12 months ago.
Matt Shaddock, owner of the Victoria Hotel in Ouyen, is owed $125,000 by a contractor to Kiamal Solar Farm, which went into liquidation in December 2019.
The solar farm has achieved registration with the Australian Energy Market Operator and is in the final stages of testing. The first stage of the project will produce 256 megawatts when connected to the grid.
A local with knowledge of the project said some sections of the farm were “already live”. A spokesperson for project leader Total Eren said the project is expected to be entirely complete in the second half of 2021.
The Victoria Hotel provided accommodation and meals to contractor Rusca Bros throughout 2019, but has not been paid for services provided from September to November that year.
The business had struggled to recover the costs of feeding and housing the workers, Mr Shaddock said.
At one stage more than 40 Rusca workers were staying at the hotel, which was preparing meals for between 50 and 80 workers for lunch and dinner, he said.
The last payment he received from Rusca was on October 24, 2019, but he continued feeding and housing the workers until November 19, a month before the company announced it would enter administration.
Of the $125,000 he is owned, Mr Shaddock said he spent about $50,000 on direct costs, including buying food and staffing.
He is hoping to put any money he recovers into urgent repairs for the more than 100-year-old building.
Ceilings in the accommodation needed fixing, he said, and he hopes to modernise bathrooms and provide more self-contained accommodation.
He has already invested thousands of dollars in painting and renovating sections of the building that have not been worked on in more than 40 years.
Mr Shaddock said the hotel was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays due to a staff shortage and the business lost money in January after a hopeful December turnover. He is concerned about the extra financial stress on the business when JobKeeper payments stop on March 28.
Mr Shaddock said uncertainty around payment was “frustrating” but was hopeful Biosar, one of two companies contracted to oversee construction of the solar farm, will stump up the cash before construction is completed.
Majority investor Total Eren is due to take over the project at the end of the construction phase.
Total Eren is majority-owned by Total, a French multinational valued at more than $150 billion.
Mr Shaddock said he was in contact with Total Eren and had received assurances the company wanted the issue resolved and he would be paid for the services he provided. He has not been given a date for payment.
A spokesperson for Total Eren said “we are in communication with the EPC contractor to resolve outstanding payment issues with local businesses, including the Victoria Hotel.”
Rusca Bros went into voluntary administration in December 2019, leaving 26 Mallee businesses – located in Ouyen, Speed, Mildura and Irymple – nearly $300,000 out of pocket. Many of the businesses have since been paid the money owed.
Stage 2 of the Kiamal solar farm project is in “advanced development,” according to project promotional materials. It will be located 2km east of stage 1 of the solar farm, north of Ouyen.
A Total Eren spokesperson said the energy from the Kiamal installations won’t be stored, as the solar farm doesn’t yet have a battery, but instead will be injected into the national electricity grid “for the benefit of Kiamal’s offtakers”, Mars Australia, Alinta Energy, Flow Power, and Zero Emission Water.
Kiamal Solar Farm is expected to employ 10 workers when fully operational.
