Kennedy Energy Park will be the first wind, solar and storage hybrid generator connected to the Australian national grid via a single connection point.
The project will consist of 43.2MW wind supplied by 12 Vestas V136, 3.6MW turbines at a hub height of 132metres; the largest wind turbines yet to be deployed in Australia.
There will also be15 MW of single axis tracking solar PV and 4MWh of lithium-Ion battery storage. The lithium- Ion storage will be provided by Tesla
The project will be constructed under a joint construction contract managed by Vestas and Quanta. It is expected to take approximately one year to complete and should be fully operational before the end of 2018. It is anticipated the construction phase will create over 100 local jobs.
Once completed, the wind farm is expected to generate around 210,000 MWh of electricity per year – enough power to supply more than 35,000 average Australian homes.
“We believe Kennedy Energy Park will demonstrate how effectively wind, solar and storage can be combined to provide low cost, reliable and clean energy for Australia’s future”, said Roger Price, Windlab’s Executive Chairman and CEO.
Kennedy is the first phase of a potential $2 Billion+ renewable energy precinct planned for North Queensland to exploit the rare, but exceptional wind resource in the region which is highly complementary and compatible with the State’s excellent solar irradiation pattern.
“The second phase of Kennedy, phase II or “Big Kennedy” as we like to call it, is 100% owned by Windlab and will provide up to 1,200 MW of wind energy, critical in balancing the large amounts of solar generation that will be connected to the Queensland grid as it moves toward 50% renewable energy capacity.” stated Price. “The fact that wind generation in Queensland is biased towards the late afternoon, evening and night makes it ideal for matching large amounts of solar generation, thereby reducing the need for storage and other peaking capacity across the network. This is why Big Kennedy is a central component of the Queensland Government’s Powering North Queensland Plan.”
Windlab will act as owner’s engineer during construction and will continue to manage Kennedy once operational, through Windlab Asset Management.
