Indigenous-led renewable energy company Yindjibarndi Energy Corporation (YEC) has submitted plans for a hybrid wind and solar PV renewable energy project to the Australian government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
The proposed Baru-Marnda Renewable Energy Project in Western Australia combines 1,000MW of wind generation with a 500MWac solar PV power plant, with the optional addition of an undisclosed-sized battery energy storage system (BESS).
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The project would be situated 50km south of Karratha, a city in the mineral-rich Pilbara region of Western Australia. The city is dubbed the “heart of the West Pilbara Coast” and is a key hub for Western Australia’s iron ore and gas industries.
According to the EPBC Act application, the renewables hub would connect to the North West Interconnected System (NWIS), one of Western Australia’s isolated grids, primarily serving the Pilbara mining region.
Earlier this week, Western Australia’s energy provider, Horizon Power, proposed a solar-plus-storage project with a 21MW solar PV power plant for the NWIS.
Solar infrastructure and construction timeline
The YEC plans to install up to 500MWac of solar energy infrastructure as part of the Baru-Marnda Renewable Energy Project. Six potential areas for solar arrays have been identified, with four of them set to be included in the final design.
Construction of the Baru-Marnda Renewable Energy Project is expected to begin in 2028, subject to acquiring the necessary approvals. It will be carried out in stages over the next three to six years, with different infrastructure components becoming operational both during and after the construction period.
The Indigenous-led renewable energy company is developing several solar PV power plants in Western Australia. PV Tech reported last year that the organisation received approval for its 150MW Jinbi solar PV plant in the Pilbara region.
The Jinbi solar plant became the first project to be approved via the Western Australia government’s ‘Green Energy Approvals Initiative’. It will be located within a 13,000-square-kilometre area in the Pilbara covered by the Yindjibarndi Native Title Determination Area.
According to YEC’s project plans, the Jinbi project also has the option to develop a co-located BESS, further enhancing solar energy capabilities in Western Australia.
