Massive solar + storage farm in Australia

Robertstown, South Australia

From PV Magazine:

A massive solar-plus-storage project with a A$1.17 billion price tag (US$822 million) has been waved through by the South Australian government. The facility will feature 500 MW (AC) of solar PV generation capacity collocated with 250 MW/1,000 MWh of battery storage around five kilometers northeast of Robertstown [About 120 kms NE of Adelaide].

The power station will be built in stages and connected to the Robertstown substation via 275 kV transmission lines. A previous assessment has determined the facility could export energy to the grid without significant restraint but it will potentially incorporate synchronous condensers to support reliability and security of supply.

According to EPS Energy, the Robertstown project is on track to break ground in the middle of next year and generate around 275 jobs during construction and 15 or so full time jobs once operational. When commissioned, the facility will generate enough electricity to power 144,000 homes during its 30-year life.

EPS Energy director Steve McCall said the company hopes to secure finance for the project within months.“We’re working with equity and finance partners right now and that’s looking all very positive,” he said. “We’re also committed to utilizing the regional workforce and local contractors.”

For EPS, the Robertstown project is one of several large scale solar and battery storage schemes in its gigawatt-scale portfolio. The company’s South Australian pipeline includes the Bungama Solar project – a proposed 280 MW generation capacity and battery project near Port Pirie – and the Yoorndoo Ilga Solar project, a 200-400 MW solar capacity and battery facility near Whyalla.

The Robertstown plant is one of two large scale solar and battery plans in the area, along with the Solar River Project which received development approval a year ago. That facility comprises a 200 MW solar generation plant plus 120 MWh of battery storage and is likely to add another 200 MW of solar and a further 150 MWh of battery storage in a second stage if a proposed high-voltage transmission line to Victoria goes ahead.

'250 MW/1,000 MWh' referring to the battery means that the output of the battery bank is a maximum of 250 MW for 4 hours.  Or it could be, half that for 8 hours.  With a capacity factor of 30%, the 500 MW of panels will produce only 150 MW of output, so, if that level of output were maintained into the evening and the night, the battery would supply power for 6 hours and 30 minutes.   This battery is twice the size of the Tesla "big battery" in SA, which when it was installed just two years ago, was the largest battery in the world.

The company says that the solar farm will have tracking solar panels, which "follow the sun":

tracking solar panel systems follow the sun’s movement throughout the day for maximum collection. At the end of the day the panels track back to the east ready for the next operation.

This produces a "squarer" electricity output profile and higher capacity factors compared with a fixed-tilt solar panel (rooftop solar, for example).  In that part of the world (semi-desert inland South Australia), tracking solar will provide pretty much constant from sunup to sunset.  Utilities and the grid operators will love the combination of near-baseload power provide by tracking solar and massive storage.

Australia is galloping towards a 100% green electricity future, despite the denialist right-wing federal coalition government which is firmly wedded to coal, and would quite like some nuclear too, thank you.  Mind you, the state coalition government, after railing against Labor's policy on renewables before it was elected, flipped when it came to power and is now enthusiastic about renewables.