A 1MW redeployable solar-diesel hybrid power plant was unveiled this week in Combabula, regional Queensland – fully operational after being installed in just one week.
The pilot-scale plant – believed to be the world’s first of its kind – is the product of an ARENA-backed project aimed at making it easier and cheaper to supply remote Australian communities and industrial sites with off-grid renewable energy generation.
As the video below shows (in time-lapse), the innovative modular technology – which was developed by Laing O’Rourke – was delivered, set up, unpacked and fully operational within seven days.
According to ARENA (the Australian Renewable Energy Agency), the off-site construction and rapid pack-up and pack-down give the technology the potential to lower costs and reduce risks associated with undertaking projects in regional and remote Australia.
ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said the Combabula plant provided a clear demonstration of a versatile alternative to costly and heavy polluting diesel powered generators.
Each redeployable hybrid plant is expected to power multiple successive off-grid users, allowing them to benefit from the advantages of solar without committing to a permanent installation.
The solution to managing high winter electricity demand and the occasional wind drought is obvious.…
A major new wind and storage project is seeking state and federal approval for plans…
We look at AEMO's Integrated System Plan, plus the latest big battery tender, and the…
Funding community climate resilience and repairs via a fossil fuel company levy has been formally…
Bolstered by the boom in consumer resources, AEMO's new Integrated System Plan confirms that a…
Drought in large-scale wind projects is putting Australia's renewable targets under strain, and AEMO acknowledges…