Victoria’s State Electricity Commission (SEC) and developers Wirsol and Edify Energy have seen a collective 1.4GWh of solar-plus-storage projects progress this week in Victoria and New South Wales, Australia.
Our colleagues at PV Tech reported on Wednesday (20 November) that the Australian federal government had approved Edify’s 250MW Muskerry Solar Power Station, which includes plans for a 200MW/800MWh 4-hour duration battery energy storage system (BESS).
On the same day, German renewable energy developer Wirsol lodged a modification application to increase the capacity of its Maryvale solar-plus-storage project in New South Wales to 230MW.
State-owned entity SEC contracted Swedish solar developer OX2 to deliver the 100% state government-owned 119MW SEC Renewable Energy Park.
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Edify granted approval for 250MW Muskerry Solar Power Station
Australian renewable energy developer Edify Energy’s 250MW Muskerry solar-plus-storage project is located 30km northeast of Bendigo in Victoria.
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.
Tanya Plibersek, the Australian government’s minister for the environment and water, said that the Muskerry solar PV project is the 65th that she has approved.
“The renewable energy transition is real, it’s happening right now. And it’s the only plan supported by experts to deliver clean, affordable and reliable power,” Plibersek added.
Wirsol seeks modification to increase the capacity of its Maryvale project
Wirsol launched a modification application via consultancy HGH to increase the capacity of its Maryvale solar-plus-storage project in New South Wales. The project incorporates a 350MWh co-located BESS and is located around 37km east of Dubbo.
Construction is estimated to commence in early 2025, and commercial operations are scheduled to begin in late 2026.
The current proposal is to modify the development consent to increase the energy generation from the solar PV power plant and expand the battery discharge capacity without increasing the existing development footprint.
The project changes include upgrading the type of inverters used for the solar PV infrastructure and BESS. This modification would enable the latest generation of generation equipment to be used. An upgrade on the used solar PV modules is also being proposed alongside a potential change in their configuration.
OX2 to build AU$370 million state-owned solar-plus-storage site
Victoria’s SEC has contracted OX2 to deliver the AU$370 million (US$240 million) SEC Renewable Energy Park, including a 119MW solar PV plant coupled with a co-located 100MW/200MWh 2-hour BESS.
The project is being developed in the regional city of Horsham, around 300km northwest of the state capital, Melbourne.
The SEC Renewable Energy Park is expected to come online in 2027 and will primarily supply 100% renewable electricity to Victorian government schools, hospitals, and offices.
This becomes SEC’s second investment in Victoria’s renewable energy sector, the first being the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub. This complex includes a 12.5MW solar PV plant and a co-located 1,200MW/2,400MWh BESS, which will be constructed across two phases and will cost around AU$1 billion.
Construction on the Melbourne hub started in early September 2024, with the first 444 Tesla Megapack battery components having been installed.
These stories appeared as separate items on PV Tech, our solar PV technology website. Read the originals here:
Government grants green light for Edify’s 250MW solar-plus-storage project in Victoria, Australia
Wirsol lodges application to expand solar-plus-storage site in New South Wales, Australia, to 230MW
OX2 to deliver AU$370 million state-owned solar-plus-storage site in Victoria, Australia
