Close to $3bn being invested in eight major South Australian renewable energy projects
TWO years after South Australia was plunged into a statewide blackout, companies are preparing to spend billions of dollars on solar, wind and hydro-electric projects to keep the state and nation powered up, reports Valerina Changarathil.
- Crystal Brook: Power project puts the wind up community
- Adani’s $200m, 140MW Whyalla solar project gets green light
- Sanjeev Gupta could help develop Government’s energy policy
- Bungala solar plant tradies look for other work amid contract dispute
- Hydro and solar energy planned for Baroota in $700m project
CLOSE to $3 billion is being invested in eight major renewable energy projects that are under construction or due to start soon in SA, indicating the sector’s healthy appetite for investment and potential economic boost for the state.
The longer term picture for jobs and the local economy is even better with three new major projects announced this year pushing the investment pipeline to more than $9 billion, creating thousands of jobs in construction over the next few years.
Close to 30 solar, wind and battery storage projects in SA have the potential to add more than 6000MW to the grid — more than double the state’s average peak demand.
Experts believe the excess power will then be distributed across the grid through the interconnectors.
Currently, of the 21 large-scale solar projects under construction in Australia, the biggest one is the 220 MW Bungala solar farm at Port Augusta.
Early next year, it will be country’s largest operating solar farm generating enough energy to power 82,000 Aussie households.
That’s before Whyalla saviour Sanjeev Gupta’s $1 billion energy plan for the state even gets off the ground or before Solar River turns the sod on its two-phased $450 MW project near Robertstown — both announced earlier this year.
The Clean Energy Council (CEC) is confident most of the projects in SA will come to fruition despite recent concerns around the stability of the power grid.
“South Australia, along with the ACT, has long been the national leader in adopting renewable
energy,” said CEC chief executive Kane Thornton.
“With its abundant wind and solar resources, and falling renewable energy costs, there’s
every reason to expect the commercial appetite for new energy investment in the state will
continue,” Mr Thornton said.
But he admits Australia needs to start thinking about stabilising the grid, which was originally built for baseload power plants that are now ageing and being pushed out of the market by cheaper renewable energy.
“The need to reform and change our grid is increasingly important as the amount of renewable
energy generation increases,” Mr Thornton said.
“But both the CSIRO and the Chief Scientist have said that Australia can have much higher levels of renewable energy than we currently do before we need to make any special arrangements.
“These projects that have been given the green light will already have a commitment to connect into the grid, and generally increased distributed energy boosts the resilience of our electricity system.”
This week energy retailers Origin and AGL warned the electricity market was becoming more volatile as necessary baseload (guaranteed) power gets priced out of the market due to cheaper, variable renewable power, threatening the stability of the grid.
A combination of the falling global cost of solar systems, funding support from Federal Government bodies ARENA and CEFC and quicker approval and construction times for renewable projects has fast-tracked investment across the country.
About 45 per cent of SA’s electricity came from renewable sources in 2017.
Promisingly, a growing focus of major clean energy projects now is the storage element, which is helping push the case to investors, policymakers and attracting commercial/industrial customers.
While the statewide blackout on September 28, 2016 showcased SA’s vulnerability due to its reliance on renewable energy, it also helped secure the world’s largest lithium ion battery.
The Australian Energy Market Operator has highlighted the quick response time of the battery, which is powered by Neoen’s Hornsdale Wind Farm in stabilising the grid.
For instance, it was able to respond quickly when the coal-fired Loy Yang power plant tripped and went offline, outpacing traditional generators to help stabilise the electricity system.
AEMO says it continues to monitor and manage the grid’s stability and believes it’s under control.
“Power system security is absolutely front of mind for us as the grid and market operator. We need to ensure that our changing generation fleet is able to meet future system challenges,” a spokeswoman told The Advertiser.
She said AEMO was regularly making requests to update rules to bring it up to speed with new generators entering the market “to better manage power system security related issues”.
RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE
1. AURORA SOLAR ENERGY PROJECT
Owner: SolarReserve
Solar thermal & storage
$650 million
Port Augusta
2. BARN HILL
Owner: Barn Hill Wind
Farm Pty Ltd
Wind — onshore
Cost not stated
Barn Hill
3. BUNGALA SOLAR POWER PROJECT
Owner: Reach Solar
Management Co
PV panels
$400 million
Bungala
4. CARMODYS HILL
Owner: Energy Pacific
Vic Pty Ltd
Wind — onshore
$350 million
Carmodys Hill (near
Georgetown)
5. CERES PROJECT
Owner: Senvion
(formerly REpower)
Wind — onshore
$1.5 billion
20km southwest of
Ardrossan
6. EXMOOR
Owner: Acciona Energy
Wind — Onshore
Cost not stated
15km north of
Naracoorte
7. KEYNETON
Owner: Energy Pacific
Vic Pty Ltd
Wind — onshore
$240 million
Keyneton
8. KINGFISHER SOLAR STORAGE
Owner: Lyon Solar
PV-tracking, flat panel &
storage
$350 million
Roxby Downs
9. KONGORONG
Owner: Ratch Australia
Wind — onshore
Cost not stated
Kongorong
10. KULPARA
Owner: Ratch Australia
Wind — onshore
Cost not stated
Kulpara
11. LINCOLN GAP WIND FARM
Owner: Lincoln Gap
Wind Farm Pty Ltd
Wind — onshore
$450 million
Lincoln Gap
12. PALMER WIND FARM
Owner: Tilt Renewables
Australia
Wind — onshore
Cost not stated
Mt Lofty Ranges
13. PORT AUGUSTA RENEWABLE ENERGY PARK
Owner: DP Energy
Australia Pty Ltd
PV panels, wind — onshore
$680 million
Port Augusta
14. PORT AUGUSTA SOLAR
Owner: Solastor Pty Ltd
Solar thermal & storage
$700 million
Port Augusta
15. RIVERLAND SOLAR STORAGE
Owner: Lyon Solar
PV-tracking, flat panel
$1 billion
Morgan, Riverland
16. SPENCER GULF PUMPED STORAGE HYDRO
Owner: Energy Australia
Pump storage of water
$200 million
Spencer Gulf
17. STONY GAP
Owner: Energy Australia
Wind — onshore
Cost not stated
Stony Gap
18. TAILEM BEND — SOLAR
Owner: Equis
PV panels
$200 million
Tailem Bend
19. WHYALLA — SOLAR
Owner: Adani
PV panels
$200 million
Whyalla
20. WHYALLA SOLAR FARM
Owner: Energy Pacific
Vic Pty Ltd
PV-tracking, flat panel
Cost not stated
Whyalla
21. WILLOGOLECHE
Owner: Willogoleche
Power Pty Ltd
Wind — onshore
$250 million
Willogoleche Hill (5km
from Hallett)
22. WOAKWINE WIND FARM
Owner: Infigen Energy
Wind — onshore
$850 million
Near Tantanoola
23. YORKE PENINSULA BIOMASS
Owner: Kallis Family
Trust
Steam subcritical
(straw-based fuel)
$100 million
Near Ardrossan
NEW PROJECTS
24. CULTANA SOLAR PROJECT
Owner: SIMEC ZEN Energy
Solar
Part of a $1 billion energy plan
Cultana (5km north of Whyalla)
25. SOLAR RIVER (TWO STAGES)
Owner: Solar River Project Pty Ltd
Solar
$450m
Near Robertstown (45km south of Burra)
26. BAROOTA PROJECT
Owner: Rise Renewables
Solar, pumped hydro
$700m
40km north of Port Pirie