Horsham 119-MW Solar-Plus-Storage Completes Panel Installation

• Victoria’s Horsham SEC Renewable Energy Park hits a milestone: 119‑MW solar plus 100‑MW/200‑MWh battery to power 51,000 homes, firm evenings, and co-optimise revenue under public ownership.

Victoria’s publicly owned SEC Renewable Energy Park in Horsham has completed panel installation for a 119-MW solar farm paired with a 100-MW/200-MWh battery, targeting supply for about 51,000 homes. A 162.5-tonne transformer—a key long-lead item—has been delivered, keeping the hybrid project on track to provide shaped output, evening peak coverage and firming services.

Co-location reduces losses and shares interconnection; a unified controller will co-optimise arbitrage and ancillary revenue. The two-hour battery aligns with current market products, with pad space for longer duration later. Public ownership foregrounds transparency and local benefits, while O&M plans include thermography, IV-curve tracing and cleaning tailored to dust and pollen.

How will Horsham’s SEC hybrid project enhance grid reliability and local benefits?

• Delivers fast frequency response and regulation services, stabilizing frequency after contingencies
  
• Smooths solar ramps and cloud flicker via coordinated dispatch, reducing stress on the network
  
• Provides voltage support (reactive power and power-factor control) at the connection point to keep local voltages within limits
  
• Shifts midday surplus into the evening peak, lowering reliance on peakers and improving reserve margins
  
• Charges during constraint periods to ease congestion and curtailment, improving overall renewable utilization
• Rapid restart capability after disturbances, helping restore supply more quickly
  
• Absorbs excess rooftop PV locally during minimum-demand periods, mitigating reverse power flows
  
• Reduces flows on long transmission corridors into the Wimmera, easing thermal limits and losses
  
• Offers more predictable, shaped output that simplifies operational planning for the market operator
  

• Creates regional jobs across construction, electrical trades, and long-term maintenance, with pathways for apprentices
• Increases local spending through procurement of services, accommodation, and materials
  
• Generates stable host-landholder income and council rate revenue
  
• Enables a community benefit fund for energy-bill relief, home electrification, and school STEM initiatives
  
• Supports partnerships with TAFEs/universities for training in solar-battery operations and asset diagnostics
  
• Can underpin resilience hubs (e.g., battery-backed community centers) during outages in partnership with the distributor
  
• Opens opportunities for agrivoltaics and biodiversity plantings that improve soil, habitat, and farm co-use
  
• Catalyzes regional EV charging and fleet electrification using off-peak or curtailed energy