Kennedy Energy Park is a world’s first utility-scale hybrid wind, solar and storage project. The project is currently under construction and operations will begin in late 2018.
It is located in Flinders Shire, Queensland, approximately 290 km south-west of Townsville. It forms the first part of Windlab’s Kennedy energy precinct that will provide significant economic and environmental benefits to North Queensland. This precinct will include up to 1 GW of wind and solar power.
The project is jointly owned by Windlab and Eurus Energy.
When completed, it will consist of wind turbines, single-axis tracking solar panels, and a battery storage system. The location for the site was selected by Windlab as the region has the one of the highest levels of solar irradiance that can be connected into electricity network and possesses a world class complementary wind resource.
What makes it so complementary is that on a typical day the solar resource ramps up in the morning as the wind slows down, and in the evening as the sun is setting the wind picks up and continues to generate steady power throughout the night.
The result of this complementary relationship is highly reliable renewable electricity generation that overcomes the intermittency so often associated with wind energy or solar energy alone.
The facility will be a significant boost for the local economy, helping to create local jobs and generating more business in the region.
Development approval was granted in 2016. Construction began in late 2017. Upon completion, Windlab will remain a major owner in the project and will continue to manage the project from its global operations hub in Canberra.
See here for more details.
