Lionsgate Business Park centre of $200m solar plan
Thousands of solar panels will be installed at the former Holden plant in Elizabeth as part of a $200m vision to transform the site into a clean and green centre of industry.
Business
Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The former Holden factory at Elizabeth will become home to the country’s largest rooftop solar farm under a $200m plan to transform the site into a clean and green centre of industry.
Renewable energy fund CEP.Energy is behind the ambitious plans, which include construction of a 150MW grid-scale battery to support installation of thousands of solar panels at the site.
Up to 200,000sq m of rooftop space will be covered with the panels, which will have the capacity to deliver up to 24MW of solar generation.
CEP chief executive Peter Wright said the site, now known as Lionsgate Business Park, was ideal for a battery, which would replace temporary diesel generators at the site and provide tenants with “cost-effective” energy while reducing peak demand on the grid.
“The Lionsgate site is zoned industrial and has the all-important existing grid connection capacity,” he said.
“Large scale storage within the South Australian distribution network will assist with the management of local network voltages and solar supply peaks and troughs.”
Lionsgate has already attracted a mix of industrial and other tenants including Levett Engineering, Genis Steel, Sonnen and building group Centina.
CEP has entered a 45-year lease with Lionsgate’s owner, Pelligra Group, allowing it to build the battery at the site, as well as an agreement to lease the rooftop space.
Pelligra Group chairman Ross Pelligra said the deal with CEP formed part of his company’s vision to transform the 122ha site from an old manufacturing plant into a modern business district for industrial, manufacturing, construction and engineering activity.
“Our plan is to develop a centre for the next generation of industrial businesses driven by rapid developments in skills and technology,’’ he said.
“The agreement with CEP for the on-site battery will deliver Lionsgate tenants cost-effective energy generated on the rooftops above.”
CEP, led by chairman and former NSW Premier Morris Iemma, last month announced it would build the world’s biggest battery, with a capacity of up to 1200MW, on industrial land in the Hunter Valley.
It would be the largest asset in the fund’s planned network of four grid-scale batteries across the country, with a total capacity up to 2000MW.
Development of a “virtual power plant”, comprised of 1500MW of rooftop solar on industrial sites and 400MW of battery storage, is also planned over the next five years.
CEP has secured access to hundreds of properties and more than 10 million square metres of rooftop space across South Australia, Victoria and NSW in a bid to deliver its ambitious green energy plan.
Mr Iemma said the Lionsgate project would help the South Australian Government reach its target of 100 per cent renewables by 2030.
“This project will generate new jobs in an area where they are much-needed and will be powered by solar power,’’ he said.
“Given energy costs make up about a third of manufacturer’s costs, the CEP.Energy offer will
increase viability and deliver jobs.”
Energy Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan welcomed the deal between CEP and Pelligra to transform the former Holden site into a modern industrial hub.
“The combination of a large solar array, grid scale battery and virtual power plant on a large industrial site fits perfectly with our government’s energy policy,” he said.
“This style of project will deliver value for the tenants as well as all other South Australian electricity consumers by reducing peak demand on the grid.”
CEP expects to start construction on the Lionsgate battery project early next year.