Hybrid solar-wind-battery complex of 60 MW tied to Queensland's power grid

The Kennedy Energy Park in North Queensland, which combines wind, solar and energy storage technologies, has been hooked to the grid and energised and its commissioning is expected in the last quarter of 2019.

The milestone was announced on Monday by Windlab Ltd (ASX:WND), which owns the scheme together with Japan's Eurus Energy Holdings Corp. The construction of the complex, including 43.2 MW of wind, 15 MW of solar and 2 MW/4 MWh of Tesla battery storage, was completed at end-2018 but its grid-connection was delayed due to new generation performance standards.

“Nearly all renewable generators in Australia have found grid connection challenging in the past 18 months,” Windlab executive chairman and CEO Roger Price said.

Although it has been tied to the grid, the Kennedy hybrid power plant is expected to export first power in the middle of August due to a compulsory “hold point zero” period. After the network operator completes background power quality tests, commissioning of the park will begin. Power exports will continue “progressively,” initially under a 5-MW export limit until the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) registers the project as a generator in September.

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