Construction is complete at the world’s first wind-solar-battery park

Source: RenewEconomy

The first stage of the Kennedy Energy Park in far north Queensland has been completed and is due to be turned on in January after some testing. It is the world’s first on-grid facility that combines wind and solar energy with battery storage.

The energy park, developed by Windlab, contains 40MW of wind energy, 20MW of solar and a 2MW/4MWh Tesla battery – the third Tesla battery to be installed adjacent to a renewable energy facility in Australia, following the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia and the Gannawarra solar farm in Victoria.

If all goes well, and depending on grid capacity and other factors, Windlab has said it could grow the project to 1.2GW under its “Big Kennedy” plans, which could deliver the equivalent of “base-load” renewables to the north Queensland region.

However, new grid infrastructure will be needed. The Queensland government has promised support for a 500 km transmission line in the north of the state to unlock barriers to more than 2000MW of large-scale wind, solar and hydro projects in the region.

Read more: Construction complete at Kennedy, world’s first wind-solar-battery park. RenewEconomy, December 19, 2018.

World’s first power hub with wind + solar + battery storage

Tesla batteries arrive for world's first large-scale solar, wind, battery power hub (RenewEconomy)

The first Tesla Powerpack batteries have arrived on site in north Queensland, ready to be installed at what will be the world’s first grid-connected project combining large scale wind, solar and battery storage. The first stage of the Kennedy Energy Hub by Windlab will comprise 43.5MW of wind, 15MW of solar and 4MWh of the Tesla Powerpack 100kWh batteries. The hub is under construction and operations will begin in late 2018.

"This energy hub – located between Townsville and Mt Isa – will demonstrate the effectiveness of wind and solar working together, and how battery storage can play a critical role in smoothing out and shifting supply."

While the first stage of the Kennedy Energy Hub is world-leading, the potential of the overall project is massive. Windlab has previously talked of its plans for “Big Kennedy”, potentially combining 600MW of wind and 600MW of solar, which along with storage would be able to deliver “baseload” renewables at a far lower price than any new coal-fired generator that some have called for. This also has huge money-making potential like what the big battery in South Australia has already achieved.

Read more at: Tesla batteries arrive for world’s first wind-solar-battery project. RenewEconomy, June 29, 2018.