A 1,200MWh solar-plus-storage twin project is set to be developed in North Queensland, Australia, after success in the recent Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS) tender.
The twin projects being developed by Australian renewable energy developer Edify Energy are the Ganymirra and Majors Creek Solar Power Stations. Both will have a 150MW solar PV generation capacity alongside a co-located 600MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).
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Located near Woodstock, in north Queensland and covering an area of 539.5 hectares, the facilities may serve as a source for green hydrogen production for domestic applications in Townsville and internationally, potentially creating a new export market.
With the projects being awarded federal contracts, Edify Energy will now look to develop the projects to be delivered and operational by 2028. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2026.
Edify Energy CEO and founder, John Cole, highlighted that the success in the CIS tender round will help bring the “region’s potential to life with innovative, high-tech, dispatchable clean energy projects supporting local industry and community with long-term energy supply”.
“This project has a multitude of benefits – not only as we grow our green energy capabilities – but to the broader community through First Nations benefits, and local employment. During the construction phase, the solar power station will create over 400 jobs – directly and indirectly supporting local businesses in the community, through hospitality, retail and services,” Cole added.
Edify’s solar-plus-storage portfolio in Australia
Readers of Energy-Storage.news will likely be aware that Edify is pursuing numerous solar-plus-storage projects in Australia, recognising the opportunity that comes with co-location.
One such project is the 250MW Muskerry solar-plus-storage project, located 30km northeast of Bendigo in Victoria, which was recently approved by the federal government for development. According to project documents, the Muskerry solar plant will take approximately 12 months to construct and will have an operational lifespan of around 50 years.
Edify submitted the project to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act queue in October 2024. The EPBC queue, administrated by the federal government, aims to protect nationally threatened species and ecological communities under the act.
Edify Energy is also the owner of the 150MW/300MWh Riverina and Darlington Point BESS in New South Wales, which transmission system operator Transgrid recently tapped to increase its network capacity.
The BESS project is equipped with Tesla Megapacks, which form three separate operating systems co-located adjacent to an existing 333MWp solar PV power plant, connected at the 132kV Darlington Point substation.