Australian clean energy developer Someva Renewables and energy firm AGL have announced plans to build a 1.5GW renewable power plant in New South Wales, which will include 300MW of new solar capacity.
While wind power will account for the majority of the project’s capacity – the remaining 1.2GW – the news is still an encouraging development for the Australian solar sector. The developers aim to build the proposed Pottinger Energy Park within the NSW South West Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), a region of the state earmarked for 2.5GW of new renewable capacity additions and transmission investments by the state government in 2022.
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The South West REZ is one of five such zones in the state, and when originally announced, developers submitted applications for 49 projects with a combined power generation capacity of 34GW. Someva and AGL expect construction to begin in 2026, should the project receive the necessary government approvals.
“As part of our co-design process, Someva has been engaging with the local community for over two years,” said Someva managing director Jamie Chievers. “During this time, we’ve been buoyed by the support the Pottinger Energy Park has received from local landowners, Traditional Owners, local businesses, local councils and the broader community.”
Renewables-plus-storage potential
The proposed project is also notable as the developers plan to include co-located storage systems, with a capacity of 500MW/2GWh. While the companies did not specify how much of this battery energy storage system (BESS) would be used to store power from the park’s solar versus wind power generation facilities, solar-plus-storage projects of all capacities are thought to be of increasing importance to the global energy transition.
Last year, a survey conducted by DNV at the ees event in Germany, reported that 92% of respondents considered solar-plus-storage to be a crucial tool to improve the efficacy of renewable power generation facilities, and the sector has seen a flurry of investment in recent months.
Earlier this year, Spanish independent power producer Grenergy signed a new power purchase agreement for its Oasis de Atacama solar-plus-storage project in Chile, pushing the value of deals signed for the project to a considerable US$2.9 billion. The project is the world’s largest solar-plus-storage facility with a nameplate capacity of 1GW of solar generation capacity and 4.1GWh of storage.
The news is an encouraging development for the Australian renewables sector, which will have to expand its operations to meet some of its more ambitious targets. According to figures from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), Australia will need to add 28GW of new renewable capacity generation, alongside 13GW of new storage capacity, by the end of the decade, just to meet current energy demand.
