Australia’s biggest DC-coupled solar battery hybrid to push PV output into evening peaks

The biggest DC-coupled solar battery hybrid project to be developed in Australia has won approval for its grid connection, and is expected to push the output of solar PV well into the evening demand peaks, in a major change to solar’s generation profile.

The grid connection approval was announced by Octopus Australia for its Blind Creek project, around 30 kms north east of Canberra, which will feature a 300 megawatt (MW) solar component and 243 MW, 486 MWh of co-located, and DC-coupled, battery storage.

DC-coupled means that the solar can charge the battery behind the meter without the loss of power through conversion from DC to AC, and it will enable the project to store solar power in the middle of the day, when prices are often low or even negative, and save them for the evening demand peaks, when prices are higher.

The biggest DC-coupled solar battery hybrid currently operating in Australia is at Cunderdin, in Western Australia, which is injecting a steady output of around 45 MW each evening until 9.30pm local time, well after the sun has set and rooftop and large scale solar has finished for the day.

Cunderdin is sized at 100 MW of solar and 55 MW, 220 MWh of battery storage. It is pictured above, and its regular evening output is highlighted in the graph below.

See also: From breakfast to bedtime: How first big solar battery is cashing in on evening demand peaks

This will be the second DC-coupled solar battery hybrid built in Australia by Octopus, which has already begun construction of the smaller Fulham facility in Victoria, which is sized at 80 MW of solar and 64 MW, 128 MWh of battery storage.

Octopus says the $850 million Blind Creek project will have the capacity to provide power to the equivalent of 120,000 homes.

“This innovative (DC-coupled) configuration allows solar energy generated during the day to be stored in the batteries when energy prices are low, and dispatched in the evening peaks when demand and pricing is high,” the company said in a statement.

“This allows the delivery of more valuable electricity to the market and maximises returns for investors.”

Sonia Teitel, the co-managing director of Renewables Australia for Octopus, says construction of the Blind Creek facility is expected to start in the next 12 months.

“Securing GPS approval for Blind Creek not only marks a significant step forward for the project but also highlights the depth of expertise within our team, with critical grid modelling work undertaken in-house,” she said in a statement.

She said the GPS approval granted by AEMO and Transgrid follows a collaborative 12-month process facilitated by Lumea, and strong technical partnerships with the project’s key suppliers, Wärtsilä and SMA Australia.

The Blind Creek project was originally founded by a group of local farmers – a family that had live on and farmed the site for more than 150 years – and renewable energy experts who wished to combine solar and battery production and sheep production.

The solar and battery project will co-exist with rotational grass-fed lamb production, allowing for short periods of intensive grazing, the project website says.

Renew Economy has reached out to Octopus for more information and will update the story if needed.

See also Renew Economy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia for more information.

And: The Australian solar farm that is producing power well after sunset

And: Biggest solar battery hybrid project with grid forming inverters in Australia wins grid approval

Want the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our free daily newsletter.