Neoen signs connection agreement for Goyder South project

South Australia’s high-voltage transmission network owner ElectraNet has signed a 30-year Transmission Connection Agreement (TCA) with French renewables giant Neoen for the first half of the 412 MW Stage 1 of the massive Goyder Renewables Zone project, a hybrid wind, solar and storage project being built near Burra, in the state’s Mid North region.

The first stage of the project comprises the 412 MW Goyder South wind farm which is expected to be operational in 2024.

ElectraNet Corporate Development Executive Ashley Manna said the state-owned network operator had executed a connection agreement with Neoen for 50% of generation capacity of the first stage of the Goyder South project. A new transmission line will be constructed to connect the project to the grid via ElectraNet’s existing Robertstown substation.

“This is the first half of Stage 1 of the development for Neoen, connecting initially 209 MW of wind generation,” he said. “A TCA for the second half is expected to be executed in the coming months for additional wind generation.”

Manna said construction of the connection assets is already “well underway,” with “energisation expected in early to mid-2023.”

Goyder South is a part of the planned Goyder Renewables Zone project which has received development approval for 1,200 MW of wind, 600 MW of solar generation and 900 MW/1,800 MWh of battery storage capacity.

Future stages of the project will be unlocked with the completion of Project EnergyConnect, the new 800 MW transmission interconnector linking South Australia with New South Wales.

Neoen has already secured energy offtake agreements for much of the output from the first stage of the Goyder project.

The Australian Capital Territory government has inked a 14-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for 100 MW of the project’s output while energy retailer Flow Power will buy 40 MW of the generation capacity to on-sell to its South Australian commercial and industrial customers.

Mining giant BHP has also struck a deal for some of the generation capacity after signing a 70 MW baseload renewable energy contract which will see its Olympic Dam mine operations in South Australia supplied with renewable energy from the Goyder South project as well as Neoen’s Blyth Battery from July 2025.