Rare photo shows Australia’s biggest wind solar hybrid facility taking shape

Iberdrola’s massive 317MW hybrid wind and solar project in South Australia has been making quiet but impressive progress on the construction front, according to an image shared on social media platform Facebook.

The rare photo of the Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park, posted on Tuesday, shows the solar and wind components to the huge project looking close to complete, which gels with previously slated goals to start full commercial operations by mid-April 2022.

According to the project’s website, the installation of 50 x 4.2 MW wind turbines has indeed been completed, with work on the 107MW solar farm said to be “still progressing,” along with construction of the substation and the power evacuation line.

As RenewEconomy has reported, the project will be, for a time at least, Australia’s largest combined wind and solar facility, in a spot in South Australia that once hosted two of the state’s largest coal-fired generators.

As the source of the photo notes on FB, the picture of the PAREP also happens to feature a guest appearance from Sundrop Farms’ 127 metre tall solar power tower, that helps to sustainably grow some 13,500 tonnes of tomatoes a year with just sunlight and seawater.