Global Power Generation Australia (GPG), a subsidiary of Spanish energy company Naturgy, has sent the Fraser Coast hybrid solar and battery project to the Australian government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act queue for assessment.
The hybrid project is proposed for a 555-hectare site near the township of Brooweena, about 47 km southwest of Maryborough. The site is currently being used for agricultural purposes, primarily stock grazing.
GPG plans to build a 290 MW solar farm featuring approximately 600,000 solar panels alongside a battery energy storage system (BESS) sized at 180 MW and 360 MWh. The hybrid facility is expected to generate power equivalent to the annual consumption of 167,000 homes and avoid 656,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. The facility would connect to the National Electricity Market via a 275 kV transmission line linking to Powerlink’s nearby Teebar Substation.
In documents submitted as part of the EPBC Act application, GPG said the solar facility and BESS will be connected under an Integrated Resource Provider Scheme.
“This will allow the solar facility and BESS to receive independent set points, allowing the BESS to participate in the energy and Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) markets both as a generator and a load,” the developer said.
GPG, which earlier this year delivered its first hybrid solar and battery project with the commissioning of the Cunderdin facility in Western Australia, said under this scheme the energy from the solar farm can be stored in the BESS then fed into the grid during periods of high demand.
Construction of the Fraser Coast project is pencilled in to commence later this year, subject to approvals and commercial considerations.
The Fraser Coast project is among a handful of Queensland solar and battery projects submitted for approval under the EPBC process in recent days.
Macquarie-backed Eku Energy is seeking approval for two battery projects with a combined capacity of 600 MW / 2,400 MWh in central Queensland.
Eku, jointly owned by Macquarie Group and British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), has lodged the 300 MW / 1,200 MWh Byellee and the same-sized Monduran battery energy storage projects for assessment.
The Byellee battery project is planned to be built about 7 km west of the industrial city of Gladstone while the Monduran project is proposed for near Gin Gin, about 40 km southwest of Bundaberg.
Samsung C&T Renewable Energy Australia, a regional energy division of South Korea’s Samsung Group, is seeking EPBC approval for a 300 MW solar power plant co-located with a 150 MW / 300 MWh BESS.
The Dunmore Solar Farm and battery project is planned for a 534 ha site at Cecil Plains, about 240 km west of state capital Brisbane.
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As a direct neighbour to GPGs Bundaberg Solar Factory at Gin Gin Qld they removed my fence and cleared my land all without our knowledge or consent. They placed the fence in the wrong location and know it is in the wrong location as they put it in writing to me. They have also now altered my side boundary fence and have given my neighbour some of my land. Again this has all beenn bought to their attention. This has been an ongoing saga with them being in breach of DA for 16 months and they arre before AEIC for investigation. They are also going to court because council refused their minor change application and they have done works without a DA. They have no respect for neighbours at all.
That cover photo is certainly not of GPGs Bundaberg Solar project at Gin Gin as that project is a mess of weeds that needs serious attention especially as neighbours are 20 meters from the panels and the area is in a total fire ban.
The photo shows panels at GPG’s completed Cunderdin project and has been used for display purposes only. Works obviously have not commenced at the Gin Gin site.