Australia’s ‘Very 1st’ Hybrid Solar & Battery Project Cleared

• EGP has secured an AEMO letter to build its 1^st hybrid project in Australia's NSW
• The 96 MW solar and 20 MW storage project will come up in the Central West and Orana regions
• Its point of grid connection is shared under single GPS instead of 2 separate connection points in close proximity, which it says is a 1^st for Australia

Italian renewable energy giant Enel Green Power (EGP) has announced securing clearance from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to build what it calls the 'very 1^st' hybrid solar and battery project in Australia, enabling a single point of grid connection.

On its LinkedIn account, EGP said it has received the 5.3.4A letter from the AEMO for its 1^st hybrid project. Its point of connection to the electricity grid is shared under single Generator Performance Standards (GPS), rather than 2 separate connection points in close proximity, it explained.

EGP revealed the project to have 96 MW solar and 20 MW battery energy storage capacity. It is located in the Central West and Orana Region in the State of New South Wales (NSW), and planned to enter construction by the mid of 2023. On coming online, it will generate enough power to suffice the needs of some 45,000 Australian homes.

The Italian company thanked the AEMO and NSW state-owned electricity infrastructure company Essential Energy for support on the 'complex design'.

Notably, NSW is planning a 3 GW Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone for which it received responses for 27 GW in June 2020 (see NSW Receives 27 GW Interest For 3 GW REZ).

In Australia, EGP is already operating 4 solar power plants with a combined 310 MW installed capacity and is currently developing 93 MW Girgarre Solar Farm in Victoria, that it acquired from Lesson Group. The $130 million project is expected to use close to 167,500 solar PV modules to generate close to 200 GWh annually.