“World’s biggest” solar and storage project on track for state approval

Plans to build a 300MW solar plant with a world-leading 3.6GWh of storage capacity in South Australia continue to make solid progress, with the project receiving Crown Sponsorship from the state government for development approval.

Dutch-based Photon Energy, which is developing the project using Australian technology developed by RayGen, says this means the approvals process is undertaken directly with the SA department of energy, as a development of public infrastructure.

“The proposed development complies with the requirements of the Technical Regulator in relation to the security and stability of the State’s power system,” Photon says in its half-year results report.

“In parallel, Photon Energy has applied for grid connection for the project to the Electranet transmission network and has engaged a grid connection consultant to manage the process and conduct Grid Performance Studies which will be submitted for approval.”

The project was put on the development map for South Australia in November of 2021, when the Photon revealed it had secured 1,200 hectares of land for what it said would be the biggest solar and storage project in the world.

In an update on the project, Photon maintains this claim, noting that the targeted capacity of 3.6GWh, equivalent to 24 hours of full load, exceeds the 3GWh of Morocco’s Ouarzazate Solar Power Station – currently the world’s largest energy storage capacity excluding pumped hydro.

It may miss out on this title, however, depending on the speed of progress of the Sun Cable project in the Northern Territory, which aims to develop up to 20GW of solar PV and up to 42GWh of battery storage.

RayGen’s technology, which uses mirrors to reflect sunlight to a high performance PV receiver mounted on a central tower and a water-based long duration energy storage system, also has the backing of AGL Energy, Equinor, Schlumberger, and US fossil fuel giant Chevron.

The company’s “solar hydro” technology is currently being put to its first grid-scale test in Carwarp, in Western Victoria, where the solar production component was connected to the grid just over a week ago.

The ARENA-backed Carwarp project has solar towers with a capacity of 4MW. The commissioning of the water based storage component – rated at 3MW with 17 hours storage, or 50MWh – has been pushed back until early 2023.

In a statement to RenewEconomy on Monday, RayGen CEO Richard Payne says the company is “thrilled” with the progress Photon has made on the South Australia project, which he says will be located in Yadnarie, near Cleve on the Central Eyre Peninsula.

“The project will bring world-leading storage and inertia to the grid and generate new, local jobs in construction and operations. We continue to enjoy our strong working relationship with Photon Energy on this and other projects,” Payne said.

Photon says it has also conducted community consultation sessions for the SA project and received a “very positive response” from both the community and the local council.

“The local council is very supportive of the project and has expressed interest in working with Photon Energy on accommodation and local supply chain in any areas that will be mutually beneficial to both the local community and the project,” the report says.