Last panel goes up at first solar-battery hybrid project to connect to Australia’s main grid

The final panel has been installed at Australia’s first large scale solar-battery hybrid facility to connect to the main grid, heralding a radical change in the make-up and shape of the country’s electricity system.

The $192 million Quorn Park Hybrid Solar facility – near Parkes in western NSW – combines 80 megawatts (MW) of PV generating capacity with a 20 MW, 40 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery behind the same connection point.

Developer, Potentia Energy, this week announced its contractor, Beon Energy Solutions, had installaed the final solar panel at Quorn Park – a “major milestone” at what is a milestone project.

“After six months of work, nearly 161,000 panels are now in place at the site near Parkes, NSW, a significant moment towards delivering one of Australia’s most advanced hybrid renewable energy projects,” Potentia said on LinkedIn.

Pontentia says Quorn Park has also had a meaningful local impact, with 63 per cent of the mechanical workforce at sourced locally at the time of peak construction. Through the Women in Solar pre-employment program, around 30 per cent of the workforce has been women.

Image: Potentia Energy

“Due for completion in late 2026, Quorn Park will be the first large-scale solar and battery hybrid power plant connected to Australia’s main grid,” Potentia says.

“By storing solar energy generated during the day and dispatching it during evening peaks, the project will strengthen grid reliability while delivering enough clean energy to power around 45,000 homes in NSW every year.”

As Renew Economy explains here, solar farms and battery projects have often been built side by side, but with separate connection points so they operate independently, which means they have to accept market prices for charging (in the case of the battery), and exporting (in the case of the solar and the battery).

The fact that they can now be accommodated behind the same meter is due to a lot of work changing Australia’s strict grid connection rules, and has presented as many complexities as the introduction of big batteries nearly a decade ago, and grid forming inverters in recent years.

Quorn Park started injecting small amounts of power into the National Electricity Market last month, doing so up until 8pm at that time. It expected to be able to send power to the grid even later in the evening when fully commissioned, and if needed and the market signals are right.

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