All 200,172 panels in place, as one of Australia’s first solar-battery hybrids hits construction milestone

One of Australia’s first solar and battery hybrid projects, the 131 megawatt Winton North Solar Farm in Victoria’s north, has completed the installation of all of its PV modules, just two months after reaching financial close.

The Melbourne-based arm of Danish developer European Energy – one of the most active players Australia’s large-scale renewables industry – announced the new project milestone on its LinkedIn account this week.

“Despite a wet winter, all 200,172 solar panels are now in place at Winton North Solar Farm – a wonderful achievement by our team on the ground,” the post said on Tuesday.

“There’s still a little work to do and testing to be completed, but this 131-megawatt project is progressing quickly and it won’t be long before it’ll be pumping renewable energy into Victoria’s grid.

“And that’s what we’re all about.”

The solar farm now enters its testing phase on its way to a targeted grid connection next year.

A 100 MW/220-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery us also being built on the site and is expected to be built and brought online by the winter of 2027.

Once operational, the Winton North Solar Farm, located approximately 22 kilometres southwest of Wangaratta, will generate approximately 251-gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity each year.

The solar farm will connect to the local Ausnet transmission network at the nearby Glenrowan Terminal Station via a 5-kilometre line running in stages both above and below ground.

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