Genex names contractor for first stage of grid’s biggest solar and battery project

Listed renewable energy and storage developer Genex Power has named the preferred contractor for the first stage of what is currently set to be the biggest solar and battery storage complex on Australia’s main grid.

Genex says it has chosen PCL Contractors as the preferred firm to build the proposed 775 MW Bulli Creek stage one solar farm, which – depending on timing – will be the largest solar project on the country’s main grid.

It will likely get bigger too, with a total of 2 GW of solar and battery storage capacity planned for the project in the state’s south. The project is jointly owned with Japan’s J-Power.

Genex says it has also begun the tender process for for the first battery stage of the Bulli Creek project, which it currently envisages to be sized at 400MW and four hours storage (1,600MWh), although this will largely depend on the result of off-take discussions.

However, the first solar stage of the project is not locked in, with Fortescue Metals still yet to commit to the Gibson Island green hydrogen project that had signed up to take half the output (337.5 MW) of the Bulli Creek project.

The fate of Gibson Island is likely to depend on the success of Fortescue’s negotiations with state and federal governments. It has argued that Australian green hydrogen projects need help because of the relatively high cost of electricity. A decision is expected by the end of this month.

Genex has been pursuing off-take agreements which will ultimately influence the size of the project, and it has been working on grid connection studies that it has submitted with the state transmission company Powerlink.

Meanwhile, Genex has released its revenue details for the December quarter, in which it earned $5.3 million from electricity from its two operating 50 MW solar farms – at Kidston in Queensland and Jemalong in NSW – and the newly connected 50 MW, 100 MWh Bouldercombe big battery in Queensland.

Genex says revenue for the two solar project fell significantly in the latest quarter as wholesale electricity prices also fell.

The Kidston solar farm, normally one of the strongest solar assets in the country, suffered significant economic constraints when the daytime price fell below zero, and averaged just $54/MWh for the quarter.

Jemalong, which also earns money from the sale of Large Scale Generation Certificates (Kidston’s LGCs go to the state government under an underwriting deal), was more able to duck and weave around the price volatility and was able to pocket an average of $79/MWh during the quarter, with more than half of this coming from LGCs.

Meanwhile, the Bouldercombe battery earned $1.1 million in the few weeks it was operational in December (it became fully operational on December 12), collecting an average net price of $311/MWh selling into the evening peaks.