In Western Australia’s Gascoyne region, Exmouth will run on 80% solar PV-derived renewable energy via a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) between Pacific Energy and Horizon Power, the state’s energy provider.
The Shire of Exmouth is a local government area in Gascoyne with a population of around 3,000 people. The new hybrid system will see the development of a 9.6MW solar PV power plant, a 49.6MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), and a 7MW gas power station. This project will be distributed energy company Pacific Energy’s first off-grid power project, aiming to supply a substantial portion of a remote town’s annual power needs using solar PV and BESS.
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In doing so, the remote town, located midway between the state capital Perth and Broome, will run on 80% renewable energy annually by offsetting gas reliance with solar PV energy generation and energy shifting storage.
Mike Hall, chief operating officer of Pacific Energy, said the deal was driven by the local population’s desire to run on clean energy to preserve the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
“It was incumbent on us to demonstrate exactly what an 80%-renewable solution would look like and how we could integrate various technologies into the existing infrastructure to give the town the reliable, decarbonised power system it needs,” Hall said.
Pacific Energy acquired Exmouth’s existing gas-fired power station in mid-September. Work will commence on integrating renewable energy in early 2025, and the new system is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026.
Wind energy had been considered for the project, but because the region is situated within the cyclonic wind region, often seeing wind speeds above 100km/h, solar PV was the adopted approach for powering Exmouth.
This becomes the latest agreement Horizon Power has secured in recent months. It inked its first Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) with the Nyul Nyul people of Beagle Bay in Kimberley for a proposed solar PV development.
Under the agreement, Horizon Power will be able to access a four-hectare area of land to develop a “future energy system that will deliver increased renewable energy for the community”.
Although no project details were disclosed, the Western Australian government stated that it is in the planning stages and expects to “draw on the region’s significant solar resource”.
