Dundonnell Wind Farm Sycamore, General Manager, Strategy and a Major Civil Milestone Was Achieved This Commercial, Jemena
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Project Update Week ending 2 August 2019 Berri Barmera Council solar farm project to be sold 26 July Berri Barmera Council has resolved to seek Mayor Peter Hunt said “despite putting in our expressions of interest for the rights to best effort to deliver a great project for develop the proposed 10 MW Solar Farm on Council, Accolade Wines and the Community, Morritz Road at Berri. This effectively means the timing and justification to continue with that Council will not proceed with developing the project was simply not right in the end. the facility itself and will look to sell the Accolade Wines was bought by new owners in project to renewable energy generation 2018 and in terms of energy procurement and developers. The project has development use, they are considering a number of approval for construction on the former Berri options. We needed an answer and in this Racecourse site and connection into the SA case they made it clear that they could not Power Networks grid through Berri commit further to the project. The upside is Substation, one km from the site. State we have fielded several enquiries to buy the Government funding of $5m had been project including lease rights to the old secured for the project, with return of Racecourse site. We have expert advice that unspent funds to be negotiated. the project has strong commercial value and that is why we have decided to call for Council’s decision to no longer pursue the expressions of interest from parties seeking to development of the Solar Farm directly came buy the intellectual property and after Accolade Wines advised that it was not development rights.” in a position to commit further to the project. The project has been progressed to a ‘shovel The Expressions of Interest for purchase of ready’ stage and as such could be built by the project is timed for release in late August another developer with minimal delay using subject to arrangements being put in place. the designs, approvals and grid connection agreement. Council considered other options Any interested parties are welcome to contact such as allowing further time for Accolade Council’s Manager Environmental Services / Wines to consider the proposal again at a Major Projects Myles Somers on 08 8582 1922 future date or alternatively, Council to discuss being involved in this opportunity. developing the Solar Farm and retailing energy to the wholesale market. Council Source: Berri Barmera Council deemed both alternative options inappropriate given community interests and original funding arrangements, which would not support either option. Page 1 (Click on relevant project links to go to online Project Database) First wind turbine operations State Minister for Energy and commence with tower cranes Mining opens new ENGIE wind in Australia farm to help power South ALE’s K1650L tower cranes have begun work Australia to install wind turbine generators (WTG) near 29 July Port Augusta in southern Australia, where ENGIE today officially opened its Willogoleche they will help to power 155,000 homes. Wind Farm in Hallett, South Australia. One of the largest renewable energy projects It is the first time this type of crane has been completed in the state, Willogoleche has a used for wind turbine installation in Australia. generating capacity of 119MW, capable of ALE has brought two of the innovative cranes delivering renewable energy to 80,000 homes. to the country, where one recently commenced work at Lincoln Gap Wind Farm. The wind farm was officially opened today by The Hon Dan van Holst Pellekaan, State The K1650L tower crane was selected for the Minister for Energy and Mining and ENGIE project due to its high wind speed tolerance Asia Pacific President and CEO, Paul Maguire. and small footprint. The crane’s compactness They were joined at the launch by the Mayor means the size of hardstand can be reduced of the Regional Council of Goyder and by more than 50% in comparison with other representatives of Mitsui & Co, ENGIE’s joint cranes widely used in the wind industry, venture partner on the project. allowing cost and time savings in civil works. Consisting of 32 turbines and currently the This also helps to reduce the crane’s fourth largest wind farm in South Australia, environmental impact – a particular benefit the opening of Willogoleche is the latest for Australia, where several wind farms are major milestone in the state’s renewable planned close to forested areas. Being able to energy transition. Willogoleche is the first significantly shorten the boom up and down onshore wind farm in the world to install and area is a great contribution to overall project commission GE’s 3.8MW turbines at scale, efficiency because less space needs to be and its 130m rotor blades can operate cleared to position the crane. through a range of wind speeds, allowing ENGIE to maximise the capacity of each ALE has been contracted to install 14 WTGs at turbine. the Lincoln Gap Wind Farm site, which will begin commissioning the first of its 59 wind Power from the site will be delivered via turbines later this year. ENGIE’s retail arm, Simply Energy, which has more than 700,000 customers in Australia, ALE previously utilised the advantageous including nearly 90,000 in South Australia. capabilities of these tower cranes in Thailand, where, with a hub height of 162m, they were The wind farm represents a $250 million used to install the tallest WTGs in South East investment by ENGIE and follows a $75 million Asia. upgrade to its 500MW Pelican Point Power Station, one of the most environmentally Source: ALE friendly of its type in Australia. In total ENGIE has more than 800MW of wind-firming capacity available in South Australia making a critical contribution to the state’s energy security and stability. Page 2 (Click on relevant project links to go to online Project Database) Commenting on the opening of Willogoleche, Variation of Generation Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said: “The Willogoleche Wind Farm adds another Licence - Batchelor and significant renewable energy resource to Manton Solar Farms South Australia’s impressive portfolio of wind 29 July and solar generation. “Willogoleche’s 119MW Eni Australia Limited (EAL) is pleased to apply capacity will put downward pressure on prices to the Utilities Commission to vary our by increasing competition in the South Generation Licence in order to add proposed Australia’s energy market.” Generation Plants. EAL has been present in Australia through its subsidiaries since year The addition of further wind power adds 2000. Eni Australia BV is the operator and momentum to the case for associated grid- 100% owner of the Blacktip Gas Project, which scale storage and an interconnector between has supplied domestic gas to the NT since SA and NSW to enable the export of South 2009. In January 2019, EAL completed the Australia’s abundant renewable energy to the acquisition of a construction-ready solar eastern seaboard.” photovoltaic (PV) project near Katherine, in the Northern Territory of Australia, from ENGIE Asia Pacific President and CEO Paul Katherine Solar Pty Ltd, a joint venture Maguire added: “Willogoleche is the latest between Australia's Epuron and the UK- based demonstration of ENGIE’s long-term Island Green Power. This project is currently commitment to South Australia. This under construction and is the basis of EAL's investment significantly increases our local existing Generation Licence. generation capacity to deliver more renewable energy to our growing customer Once completed, this project will be the base in the state. largest solar PV farm in the Northern Territory, consisting of the installation of 33.7 “This opening marks another milestone in our MWp (megawatt peak) of ground- mounted continuing transition across the Asia-Pacific PV panels, as well as a battery storage system region toward low-carbon energy production with a capacity of 5.7 MVA/2.9 MWh. and the pursuit of growth opportunities Katherine Solar is likely to be the largest solar through providing energy efficient and multi- generator connected to the Darwin Katherine technical solutions to customers.” system. In addition to Willogoleche, ENGIE operates EAL is submitting this application to vary our the 46MW Canunda Wind Farm in South existing Generation Licence. EAL wishes to Australia and has renewable energy projects construct and operate 2 x lOMW ground under development in Queensland and New mounted solar PV powered generation South Wales. facilities that will connect to the Darwin- Channel Island transmission system at two Source: ENGIE interconnection points - Batchelor and Manton Dam subzone stations. Electricity generated from these facilities will be sold to Jacana Energy via a Power Purchase Agreement. These projects were initially developed by Infigen Energy and development tasks have been finalised by Tetris Energy, allowing EAL to now acquire two further construction-ready solar farm projects, as occurred for Katherine Solar. Source: Eni Australia Page 3 (Click on relevant project links to go to online Project Database) TECHNOLOGY Instead, a Megapack installation can use Introducing Megapack: Utility- stored excess solar or wind energy to support the grid’s peak loads. Scale Energy Storage 29 July Tesla developed its own software in-house to Less than two years ago, Tesla built and monitor, control and monetize Megapack installed the world’s largest lithium-ion installations. All Megapacks connect to battery in Hornsdale, South Australia, using Powerhub, an advanced monitoring and Tesla Powerpack batteries. Since then, the control platform for large-scale utility projects facility saved nearly $40 million in its first year and microgrids, and can also integrate with alone and helped to stabilize and balance the Autobidder, Tesla’s machine-learning region’s unreliable grid.