Gadens proud to be part of the Sunshine Coast Council solar farm project

Gadens is proud to have acted for the Sunshine Coast Council from the very beginning with the ground breaking Sunshine Coast Solar Farm.

The second largest solar farm of its kind in Queensland, it has set a new precedent for renewable energy generation, particular for local government. The Gadens construction, infrastructure and procurement team, led by Partner, Paul Muscat, has advised and acted for the Council with the project from the get go, advising on the procurement, project and contract delivery method, drafting all procurement and contract documentation to procure the contractor to design, build, operate and maintain the solar farm, and assisting with the administration of the contracts.

The project has been significant for many reasons; not least the fact that Sunshine Coast Council can generate 100% of its power needs from renewable sources.

Paul Skillen, Manager Procurement and Contracts at Sunshine Coast Council has had nothing but praise for the Gadens team involved in the project.

“The experience and expertise provided by Paul Muscat and his team throughout the whole procurement, project delivery and contracting of our solar farm project has been invaluable. Paul has advised on our procurement plan, project delivery method, and drafted our expression of interest, early tenderer involvement and tender documents, through to the drafting and negotiation of the project contracts.

Paul proactively assisted Council from the preparation of the procurement plan to undertaking Council’s first ever early tenderer involvement process, and subsequent tender. Paul and his team then drafted all of the post tender Design & Build and Operate & Maintain contract documentation and has advised and assisted Council in relation to the administration of the Design & Build Contract during the current construction phase of the project.

We will continue to instruct Paul in relation to the ongoing administration of the Design & Build Contract and the subsequent Operate & Maintain Contract.

During this procurement process, Paul identified contract administration issues and areas of potential risk and has provided pragmatic and commercial solutions to all issues, all the while keeping Council’s overall objectives for the project at the forefront.”

Now in operation, the solar farm will demonstrate to the community and other local and regional councils the benefits of investing in renewable energy now, and into the future.