Australia's largest solar-plus-storage project edges forward as Elecnor wins EPC contract

• Spanish renewable resource business Elecnor has actually been assigned as the lead contractor for the initial stage of Australia's largest hybrid solar and battery power storage space center.

The 720MW New England Solar Farm is being established by UPC \ AC Australia-- a joint venture between UPC Renewables and also AC Energy, a subsidiary of the Philippines' Ayala Corporation-- throughout 2 sections of land in New South Wales (NSW).

The very first 400MW phase of the solar park will certainly be set up by Elecnor's Australian subsidiary on the northern area of the site, while the initial phase of the linked 400MWh battery project, a 50MW/ 50MWh storage space system, will certainly be built with the support of the NSW federal government.

Including single-axis monitoring technology, New England Solar will be developed to permit adequate space for sheep to proceed grazing on the land in between as well as below panels. The first stage is expected to be completed in the following two years.

Alongside its design, procurement, and construction (EPC) role, Elecnor, which has taken part in the building and construction of four solar plants in Australia to date, including the 137MW Bungala Two park, will execute procedure and upkeep for 2 years after commissioning.

UPC \ AC Renewables CEO Anton Rohner said the Elecnor deal represents a "major milestone" for the project, the neighborhood community and also the shift of Australia's energy system. "Not only are we giving tidy energy to the grid, with the support of the NSW government we are giving dispatchable energy in the form of a 50MWh battery. It will give much-needed jobs as well as a shot of resources into the New England region."

In spite of the advancement initially obtaining 67 public objections, the New England Solar Farm obtained approval from the NSW Independent Planning Commission in March. Public problems were centred around the compatibility of the suggested land use, the project's aesthetic influences, website traffic management, impacts on animals and the eventual decommissioning of the project.

Rohner claimed today that an upgrade to local roadways attaching to the solar ranch has advanced and environmental management strategies have actually been finished.

At the same time, a grid link arrangement with TransGrid, the proprietor and also operator of the NSW electricity transmission network, was signed in June, enabling the project to attach to the existing 330kV line that crosses the site.

The New England area will certainly also be the area of a new 8GW renewable resource area (REZ) that the NSW government claims will certainly play a crucial function in the state's power shift efforts in the coming decades. The growth is NSW's secondly of 3 REZs, with the very first-- located in the Central-West and also Orana areas-- obtaining a nine-fold oversubscription of registrations of rate of interest seeking to connect to the 3GW area.