As per the terms of the MOU, Decmil and Maoneng will jointly work on early engineering design and finalization of an Engineer Procure Construct contract, which will be worth around A$275m ($208m).
Maoneng is an Australian-Chinese developer, owner and operator of renewable power generation facilities.
The company will award the EPC contract for the solar plant to Decmil by the end of March 2018. This will be subject to agreement on commercial terms along with the condition that the solar project would successfully reach a financial close.
Sunraysia, which will come up near Balranald in western NSW, will also use batteries to store energy to deliver greater power reliability. As a result, the solar plant is expected to generate power in day time and also during periods of peak demand.
The project is expected to break ground after the awarding of the EPC contract.
Decmil managing director and group CEO Scott Criddle said: “Decmil is looking forward to partnering with Maoneng on the Sunraysia project. Both organisations bring together complimentary skills to successfully deliver this project to the Australian renewable energy market.
“Decmil has been building its capability in renewable energy in recent years, based on nearly 40 years of experience and expertise in regional engineering construction”.
Upon its commissioning, the Sunraysia solar project is expected to produce about 530,000MWh of electricity per year. The generated electricity would be transmitted through the transmission lines of Transgrid to serve the states of NSW and Victoria.
