Australia’s largest solar and battery power plant is slated to be built in NSW early next year.

Maoneng Australia and Decmil had signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a 250-megawatt direct-current solar photovoltaic power plant and planned to start building as soon as April or May, Maoneng vice-president Qiao Han said on Tuesday.

Once built, Sunraysia will be more than double the size of the current largest solar plant, a 102-megawatt generation facility at Nyngan in NSW. It will take the mantle of the largest operating solar project in the southern hemisphere from Nygnan once operational.

The construction contract is valued at about $275 million.

The solar farm will be about 17 kilometres from Balranald in NSW and 140 kilometres south-east of Mildura in Victoria. It will generate at least 530,000-megawatt hours of electricity annually, powering homes in both states.