Developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) Australia has acquired a 190MW hybrid solar PV and energy storage project in Victoria from Acen Australia.
Confirmed earlier this week (18 March), the developer, which is a part of Jameel Energy and the Canadian infrastructure fund OMERS, will acquire the Axedale project, located 20km east of Bendigo, a former gold rush boom town to the north of state capital Melbourne.
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The project features 140MWac of solar PV generation coupled with a 50MW/100MWh 2-hour duration battery energy storage system (BESS). Acen Australia secured a connection agreement with AusNet and AEMO in December last year.
Baker & McKenzie advised FRV on the acquisition, which was completed without external financing.
Carlo Frigerio, CEO of FRV Australia, said the acquisition of the Axedale project underscores the company’s commitment to developing projects that incorporate energy storage in Australia.
The acquisition of Axedale underscores our commitment to developing innovative projects that blend renewable energy and storage, key elements for ensuring grid stability and advancing towards a cleaner, more efficient energy system,” Frigerio said.
FRV Australia has been expanding its development pipeline in the country. In July last year, it secured an AU$1.2 billion (US$780 million) refinancing facility to finance a 1GW solar PV portfolio of eight projects.
One of the projects that received funding is the 353MW Walla Walla solar PV power plant located in New South Wales. The site was energised in November and will supply power to a data centre owned by tech giant Microsoft through a 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA).
Alongside Walla Walla, several other projects benefited from the funding, including the 125MW Lilyvale, 56MW Moree, 90MW Sebastopol, 83.7MW Goonumbla, 115MW Metz, 106MW Winton and 2.45MWdc Dalby projects.
Solar-plus-storage in Australia
Several solar-plus-storage projects have taken strides forward in recent months, including French energy major TotalEnergies’ 320MW Middlebrook solar-plus-storage project in Tamworth, northeast New South Wales and Acen Australia’s 320MW Deeargee solar PV power plant.
One of the largest solar-plus-storage projects in Australia comes in the form of Spanish solar developer X-Elio’s 720MW North Burnett Renewable Energy Hub in Queensland. The project features a 4-hour duration 720MW/2,880MWh BESS co-located with the solar PV power plant.
Should X-Elio secure the necessary approvals for the project, the developer expects construction to last around 36 months. The project is expected to have an operational life of 30 years. At the end of its life, the power plant will either be decommissioned or repowered with new solar equipment.
Earlier this month, German renewable energy developer ib vogt has announced a new 120MW solar-plus-storage project in the New England Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) in New South Wales.
