Enel Green Power snaps up 1GW solar and battery project proposed for NSW REZ

Enel Green Power is poised to add another massive solar and battery storage project to its development portfolio in Australia, after entering a deal to buy the 1GW Tallawang Hybrid Renewable Energy Project from UK based outfit RES.

The “advanced development” project proposes to combine 500MW of solar with a 500MW/1000MWh battery energy storage system on a 1,300-hectare site around 8km north-west of Gulgong in the New South Wales Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).

Enel Green Power Australia – a joint venture company co-owned by Enel Green Power and Inpex Renewable Energy Australia – says the Tallawang project is a “significant acquisition” and an opportunity to secure a project strategically located in a key NSW REZ.

“Tallawang is a large-scale and advanced development project, with outstanding resources and key planning and regulatory approvals well progressed,” EGPA chief Werther Esposito said on Wednesday.

“Under our new joint venture structure, EGPA is accelerating the build out of a portfolio of renewable and storage projects at varying stages of development,” Esposito says.

“We bring a solid track record and strong expertise in delivering renewable energy projects and we look forward to working closely with the local community and other stakeholders, including NSW government, to deliver this project.”

According to the RES project website, a development application for the Tallawang solar farm was submitted to the NSW DPE in 2022. Its current status on the NSW planning portal is “more information required.”

According to the NSW DPE, the project has also been referred for assessment under the federal government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Renew Economy was unable to locate the project on the EPBC portal.

Also in NSW, Enel Green Power last month announced it has secured project financing for a $190 million solar and battery hybrid project it plans to build in the state’s west.

The Quorn Park hybrid project will combine a 98 MW (dc) solar farm with a 20 MW, 40 MWh battery that will be built around 10kms north west of Parkes. Construction will commence within the next few months and it will be operational in 2026.