A market services tender has been issued for an AUD660 million ($498 million) combined large-scale solar and battery storage project at Nowingi, in the northwest of Victoria, Australia.
Power sector investor the Lyon Group said Nowingi solar storage’s 250MW solar generation will charge an 80MW / 160MWh battery storage system, “making it the world’s second biggest such project after Lyon’s Riverland solar storage, which was announced in March this year”.
Lyon said construction at Nowingi is scheduled to start this September. The company said the outcome of the tender “will influence the final engineering design of the projects’ battery storage systems”. Lyon said “this innovative approach is believed to be a world first”.
Lyon said the Nowingi project is included in expressions of interest it is seeking for contracts to cover a total of up to 640MWh of storage capacity across Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.
In addition to Nowingi, Lyon said the solar storage projects within the scope of the tender include the already-announced Cape York in Queensland and Riverland in South Australia.
Lyon Group partner David Green said: “Lyon is able to offer multiple services from the same battery system and flexibility in contract size to accommodate various users. Lyon will enter into commercial contracts for real services provided by physical assets. This is not a theoretical exercise.”
Green said Nowingi would have 2.3 million solar panels and the battery storage system would deliver power on demand.
He said all of the projects “are working through development consultation and approvals”. “The land has been secured, technology and other commercial arrangements are in place, and the required network capacity analysis and consultations are well advanced. Lyon’s projects are 100% equity financed.”
