White Rock solar farm begins production, completing latest wind-solar hybrid

The White Rock solar farm has begun producing electricity to the main grid, so becoming the second wind-solar hybrid facility in Australia’s National Electricity Market.

The 20MW White Rock solar farm, about 18kms west of Glen Innes in the New England region of NSW, is located next to the already completed 175MW White Rock Solar Farm, and is owned by Goldwind Australia.

It becomes the second and largest such facility following the opening last year of the 10MW Gullen Range solar farm – also partly owned by Goldwind – that is located next to the 165MW wind farm of the same name near Goulburn.

The two projects are the first of numerous different facilities that will see hybrid combinations of wind and solar, which results in cost savings for grid connections and other equipment, and often produce complimentary output because wind often produces more at night.

APA is building a 20MW solar farm at Emu Downs to co-exist with the existing wind farm of the same name in Western Australia, and is also looking at combining wind (130MW) and solar (17.5MW) at the Badgingarra project, also in W.A.

Windlab is building a unique wind and solar – and battery storage – hybrid at the Kennedy project in north Queensland.

That project could expand to 1,200MW, providing what its developers describe as “baseload” renewables for the region.

CWP is also planning a large solar farm with battery storage to partner the Sapphire wind farm that is also being built in northern NSW, Tilt Renewables is looking to add solar and storage to the Snowtown wind farm, while DP Energy is looking to a solar-wind hybrid at its Port Augusta renewable energy park in South Australia.