Neoen starts work on wind-solar-storage hybrid project in South Australia

Neoen will begin major construction works on a large wind farm representing the first stage of South Australia’s Goyder Energy Zone mixed renewables development in Q2 2022. 

The developer awarded a turnkey construction contract to a consortium of turbine manufacturer GE Renewable Energy and infrastructure firm Elecnor. 

Neoen stated that it had started early works on the 412MW Goyder South Stage 1 Goyder South Stage 1 (412MW) OnshoreSouth Australia, Australia, Asia-Pacific Click to see full details project, which will consist of 75 of GE’s 5.5-158 Cypress turbines, in late December.

It expects the wind farm to be operational in 2024.

The wind farm is the first stage of work at the Goyder Energy Zone, north of Adelaide around the town of Burra, which will eventually consist of 2GW of wind power capacity, 1GW of solar PV and 1.5GW of battery storage. Neoen says the region is “home to some of the best wind and solar resources in the country” and where the wind tends to blow most strongly at night when the sun is not shining.

The Goyder Energy Zone will be built out in five stages, each adding 400MW of wind, 200MW of PV and 300MW of storage. Each stage is expected to take 18-24 months and the aim is to ‘roll’ construction activities from one to the next, Neon stated.

The first three stages are at Goyder South and have received permitting approval. Two stages at Goyder North will be dependent on a new transmission line linking the two zones and the construction of Project EnergyConnect, an 800MW interconnector linking South Australia with New South Wales. 

Neoen explained that its strategy is to own and operate its assets for the long-term.

It believes the mix of assets will allow it to provide “firm power” and it will sell a “significant volume” of the power under long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs). It has already secured a 14-year PPA with the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government for 100MW from Goyder South stage 1. As part of that deal, it also agreed to build a 100MW battery in the ACT – for which construction also began in December.