The first large-scale solar-battery hybrid on Australia’s main grid, Potentia Energy’s $190 million Quorn Park Solar Hybrid near Parkes in New South Wales, has been completed.
Quorn Park combines a 98MW solar farm with a 20MW/40MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), with the solar and battery designed and connected to operate together as an integrated hybrid power plant.
Unlike solar farms and batteries built alongside each other but operating as separate facilities, Quorn Park shares a single connection point and has been designed to allow its generation and storage systems to operate together.
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The project was the first hybrid project in the National Electricity Market (NEM) to receive approval for a single hybrid Generator Performance Standard.
Construction of Quorn Park began in late 2024 and included the installation of more than 160,000 solar modules, a 16-unit battery energy storage system and the electrical, control and connection infrastructure required to operate the two technologies as an integrated facility.
Potentia Energy chief operations officer Gabriele Mallarini said delivering an integrated hybrid facility required close coordination across every aspect of design, construction, commissioning and grid connection.
“Bringing solar and battery storage together as one plant adds a level of technical and operational complexity that goes well beyond simply building the two assets next to each other,” he said.
“The achievement at Quorn Park is the result of an enormous amount of engineering, testing and collaboration across our team and our project partners.
“What matters now is how these technologies perform together in the real world. Quorn Park gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the value that truly integrated renewable generation and storage can provide to the electricity system.”
Quorn Park was delivered with Beon Energy Solutions, SMA Australia, LONGi, BYD, Nextracker, and Proa Energy Intelligence.
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When fully operational, Quorn Park is expected to produce approximately 200GWh of renewable electricity each year—equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of around 45,000 New South Wales homes.
Potentia Energy is jointly owned by Enel Green Power and INPEX, and develops, constructs, and operates wind, solar, battery storage, and hybrid renewable energy projects across Australia.
