After three years, stranded solar farms are set for grid review
Three Top End solar farms have been gathering dust because they couldn’t connect to the grid. Read what’s planned to end the disconnect.
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The NT government is tendering for an expert to connect three stranded solar farms to the Territory’s electricity grid.
The consultant will focus on connecting Batchelor 1 Solar Farm, Batchelor 2 Solar Farm and Manton Solar Farm to the grid.
Owned by Italian energy company ENI, the three farms and another at Katherine were completed in 2020 and have been unused ever since.
The inability to connect the farms has been pain-point for the NT government which has a 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030 and a net-zero emissions target by 2050.
Its policies steered ENI towards investing in the farms but the technology has never been installed to prevent the grid being overwhelmed with additional solar energy.
The Territory government is investing $45m building the Darwin-Katherine Battery Energy Storage System (DK-BESS) at Channel Island power station in a bid to deliver stability to the NT’s power system when renewables are added to the grid.
The tender, which closes Wednesday May 3, is seeking a specialist power system engineering consultant to undertake final impact assessments on the three solar farms.
“FIA is critical and extensive model assessment study required to investigate further impact of the proposed connection (or plant) on PWC network system strength and security”.
The consultant must have an understanding of PWC’s power network systems, codes and regulations, the tender states.
The tender application said the consultant must be available to undertake work at short notice with short turnaround times to meet regulatory requirements.
Jacana Energy has purchase agreements with ENI Australia to buy renewable energy from the farms when it’s generated.
Chief executive Louisa Kinnear said the consultant assessments were “part of the ongoing process” to connect solar farms.
“Jacana Energy supports all activities to facilitate the safe and reliable connection of large-scale renewable energy generation to the grid, which will help the Northern Territory reach 50 per cent renewable generation by 2030,” she said.
“The Batchelor and Manton Solar Farms combined will provide approximately 8 per cent of the Northern Territory’s grid-supplied energy needs, powering up to 5000 homes every year.
“Residential and small business customers receive subsidised electricity prices that are set by the NT government.
“Any future changes to these tariffs will be a matter for the NT government.”
ENI has been contacted for comment.
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