The Kennedy Energy Park, hailed as the world’s first fully integrated wind, solar and storage facility, has finally been allowed to operate at full capacity – more than five years after construction was complete in 2019.
The Kennedy project is seen as unique because it is the first to combine all three technologies behind a single connection point. And, to add to the complexity, it is sited near Hughenden in north Queensland, in a particularly remote and ageing part of the grid.
Gaining connection approval and meeting the market operator’s Generator Performance Standards (GPS) is difficult enough in Australia – the process is regarded as toughest in the world.
Getting the final sign off for a facility combining 43.2 MW of wind, 15 MW of solar and a 2 MW/4 MWh battery in an ageing part of the network has proved an exhausting, and at times painful process. Delays in the initial connection led to a dispute with the contractors, significant write downs, and an emergency loan to cover its cash needs.
The project was finally able to begin injecting power into the grid in 2021, two years after construction was completed, and while various components have ramped up significantly in recent years – the Kennedy wind component was the best performing wind project in the country in May – it has taken till now to reach full commercial operations.
The Kennedy Energy Park is jointly owned by the now Andrew Forrest-controlled Windlab and Eurus, and it has a 10-year off take agreement with the state-owned CS Energy. It has been supported by both the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
“Kennedy remains one of the most ambitious renewable energy projects to be delivered in the NEM (National Electricity Market), overcoming challenges that were unimaginable at the outset to establish a facility that will be a model for energy parks long into the future,” Kennedy Energy Park chair Stephen Panizza said.
“The journey on Kennedy shows what can be achieved when stakeholders come together to get hard things done. In the process, Kennedy has unlocked the incredible value of the Flinders region as a major energy hub for a renewables-powered NEM.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said Kennedy’s challenges will not be in vain, because the lessons learned will help fast track the grid connection process for future hybrid projects going forward – particularly as the connection process to combine wind or solar and storage behind a single connection point has now been made easier.
Up until now, wind, solar and battery projects had separate connection points. But new rules and standards now allow – even encourage – the hybrid generation and storage projects to act in concert, with a single connection point.
“Kennedy was the first truly hybrid clean energy project in the NEM, and by overcoming the challenges not only proved the value of hybrid projects for our energy system, but established a body of industry knowledge that will ensure we can bring similar, innovative projects into the system in the years ahead,” Miller said in a statement..
Kennedy is in a critical part of the network, and the potential of expanding the project significantly has helped underpin developments such as the proposed Copperstring 2.0 transmission link from Townsville towards Mt Isa that could unlock vast renewable resources, and mineral wealth.
What was once known as Big Kennedy has now morphed into a new gigawatt scale wind project called Mount James, being developed by Iberdrola, while Windlab is focused on developing the north Queensland Super Hub with Forrest’s Fortescue Metals further west that includes the Prairie and Wongalee wind projects.
The CEFC, which along with ARENA initially backed the project in 2017, says the project will pave the way for other projects – such as the ones above – to obtain finance.
“In backing Kennedy, CEFC was the first sole debt financier to provide capital to deliver three separate renewable energy technologies behind a single grid connection point,” says CEFC chief investment office Monique Miller.
“And this provides a key, early-transition example of how investment in innovation can ensure we realise the full potential of Australia’s abundant renewable energy resources.”
The completion of the project means that the 10-year off take with CS Energy can finally come into force, and triggers the launch of Kennedy’s official Community Benefit Fund.
Panizza says the fund will add a further $50,000 per year to the more than $22 million contributed to regional economy through local employment, supply and procurement and community development initiatives during construction, and via Windlab’s development activities in the region since.
State energy minister Mick de Brenni says the completion of Kennedy shows that the state “is fast becoming a global home for clean energy innovation.” Queensland – which still trails the rest of the country in the uptake of renewables – has a target of 70 per cent renewables by 2032 and 80 per cent by 2035.
“Our Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan lays the groundwork for innovation, with strong, considered, and now legislated policy providing assurance to industry that Queensland’s commitment to the transition is rock solid,” de Brenni said.
