Developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) Australia has announced its first solar-plus-storage project, based in Dalby, a town in Queensland, has gone live.
The facility comprises a 2.45MWdc solar PV plant and a co-located 2.54MW/5MWh battery energy storage system (BESS). The project will sit on around 30 hectares of land.
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Combining the two energy assets helps the site stabilise the national grid. Excess energy generated by the solar PV plant is captured and stored in the BESS for when demand spikes.
The project’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) Contractor was carried by Spanish company Gransolar.
Christopher Curtain, senior managing director for Asia-Pacific at OMERS Infrastructure, the Canadian infrastructure fund that owns a stake in FRV, said Dalby’s connection into the grid is “another great milestone for FRV Australia”, and the organisation will “leverage the learnings to continue to grow FRV’s Australian portfolio”.
Australian market sees surge in solar-plus-storage projects
Solar-plus-storage developments are steadily becoming more common in the Australian market.
In May 2024, the Australian government approved an 800MW solar-plus-storage project to be developed by SkyLab in South Queensland. While the Punchs Creek Solar Farm battery energy storage system (BESS) was stated to have a 250MW output by the Australian government, it might actually have an output of 200MW and a capacity of 250MWh, as covered by Energy-Storage.news.
In late June, clean energy investor Octopus Investments Australia revealed that it had obtained approval for generator performance standards (GPS) for an 80MW solar-plus-storage project in Victoria.
Part of the Connections Reform Initiative, the Fulham Hybrid Battery Project, in partnership with AEMO and Australian energy delivery business AusNet, is one of the first DC-coupled battery storage projects to secure such approval and will have a capacity of 128MWh.
In the same week, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Services signed a long-term agreement to secure green energy from the 243MWp Maryvale solar-plus-storage project via the fourth tender of the New South Wales Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap.
Based near Dubbo, the Maryvale solar and energy storage project, developed by Gentari Renewables Australia, will consist of roughly 172MW of solar PV combined with a 372MWh BESS.
