Major solar, wind and storage hybrid project approved in Australia

LinkedIn
Twitter
Reddit
Facebook
Email

Windlab plans to use this first stage of the project to prove the effectiveness of the technology and then gain support for a far larger deployment. Credit: NEC
Australia-based renewables firm Windlab and Japan’s Eurus energy have received development approval for a hybrid project comprising 20MW solar, 30MW wind and a 2MW lithium-ion battery storage system in Queensland, Australia.

Construction of the AU$120 million (US$89.8 million) Kennedy Energy Park, located 20 kilometres south east of Hughenden, near the Flinders Highway, will begin in early 2017.

It will include 200,000 solar panels on single-axis trackers and 9-12 wind turbines. More than 50 direct and indirect jobs will be created as well as multiple jobs during construction.

Windlab plans to use this first stage of the project to prove the effectiveness of the technology and then gain support for a far larger deployment. Windlab plans to build more than 1GW of wind and solar north of Hughenden, after completing this first stage.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Enjoy 12 months of exclusive analysis

Not ready to commit yet?
  • Regular insight and analysis of the industry’s biggest developments
  • In-depth interviews with the industry’s leading figures
  • Annual digital subscription to the PV Tech Power journal
  • Discounts on Solar Media’s portfolio of events, in-person and virtual

Or continue reading this article for free

Geoff Burns, project director for Windlab, said: “Hughenden is almost unique in that it enjoys one of the best wind resources in Australia, co-located with one of the best solar resources. Furthermore, they are highly consistent and complementary; when the sun sets the wind ramps up and continues through to the morning after the sun rises. It is this unique characteristic that will allow Kennedy to provide a near base load generation profile.”

The two project developers completed the Coonooer Bridge Wind Farm early this year.

Kennedy Energy Park will be operational early in 2018 generating enough electricity for more than 30,000 homes.

Australia’s renewbale energy industry has faced fresh attacks since the recent federal election.

Read Next

September 9, 2025
“Social licensing is the next frontier for battery energy storage systems,” said Matt Baumgurtel, partner, new energy lead at Hamilton Locke.
Premium
September 9, 2025
Andrés Barberán, energy storage product manager at Fluence, emphasises that optimising battery energy storage system (BESS) performance means making decisions with the entire asset lifecycle in mind, not just immediate returns.
September 8, 2025
A 12GWh pumped hydro project and a 1,200MWh battery energy storage system in New South Wales (NSW) have been submitted to Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
Premium
September 8, 2025
Energy-Storage.news Premium speaks with Ryan Hledik, Principal at the Brattle Group, and Lauren Nevitt, Senior Director of Public Policy at Sunrun, on the shaky future of California’s Demand Side Grid Support distributed storage programme.
September 8, 2025
Chinese solar PV inverter and energy storage provider Sungrow has deployed two C&I community batteries, marking the first in South Australia to undergo Common Smart Inverter Profile for Australia (CSIP-AUS) testing.

Most Popular

Email Newsletter