Victoria’s State Electricity Commission (SEC) has announced plans to build one of Australia’s first 100% publicly owned utility-scale renewable energy projects: The SEC Renewable Energy Park—Horsham.
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The energy park will be built in two stages, starting with a solar facility comprising more than 212,000 PV solar panels with a total capacity of 119MW. The facility will be capable of generating around 242,000MWh of renewable energy a year.
The SEC is finalising the project’s second phase to build a 100MW 2-hour battery energy storage system (BESS) on the site. This will make it one of Australia’s first integrated solar and BESS projects with a single connection point.
The project also includes one of the state’s largest grid-forming batteries, supporting the transition to a renewable grid. The BESS will firm up the energy the solar farm generates and store renewable energy to be used at times of peak demand.
When the project comes online, the SEC will use the energy and storage provided by the facility to supply Victorian Government customers, helping the government meet its commitment to use 100% renewable electricity across its operations.
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The SEC will work with developer OX2 to build the facility, which is expected to offset 206,000 tonnes of emissions annually. The SEC will also support the local community through a $42,000 fund during the project’s construction, and a further $70,000 per year once the project is operational.
