Naturgy will build its first hybrid project in Australia: it will combine solar energy and storage
naturgy premieres with the solar energy in Australia through the front door. The company’s first plant in the country will also be the first of its kind within the company: the energy company will have its first hybrid infrastructure in the world. This is a project that has been bought from the local power generator Sun Bred Power (SBP) and that will combine the photovoltaic technology with the storage. The initiative, called cunderdin -because it will be located near the town of Western Australia named like that-, it will mean an investment of 160 million euros for the firm.
The company’s goal is for the infrastructure to have a 125 megawatt (MW) solar capacity and a battery backup power system up to 220 megawatt hours (MWh). Its construction will begin in the last quarter of this year, and the plan is for it to be ready for commercial operation in the first months of 2024.
“Our commitment is to move forward in the transition and promote Naturgy’s leading role in it,” says the general manager of the company’s Renewables, New Businesses and Innovation division, Jorge Barred, it’s a statement. “We want to reach 60% of installed power from renewable sources in the coming years and projects like Cunderdin show that our will is firm,” he says.
As defined by this manager, “it is a project ‘ready to build’ (ready to be built), which complies with the criteria of the renewables in the medium and long term, and which represents a milestone that adds to our objective”.
Another of the technical characteristics of this hybrid plant is that it will be connected to the interconnected system of Southwest Australia (Western Australia’s South West Interconnected System, SWIS). “The integration of a battery energy storage system with a large-scale photovoltaic plant will allow the project to offer greater flexibility in its operation, which in turn will make it easier to support the Australian SWIS wholesale energy market during periods of peak demand. in the country”, contextualizes the company in this statement.
Presence in Australia
Although Naturgy makes its debut in solar terms in Australia with this plant, the company chaired by Francisco Reynes account in the country with several wind projects. In total, the energy company has 276 MW of installed and operational capacity in this field and is finalizing the start-up of another 109 MW that should come into operation this year together with an energy storage system also in batteries.
In this way, with the Cunderdin project, the company says it is reinforcing its commitment to this market as one of those with increased prospects for renewable development in the next years.
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