ARENA grants multi-million-dollar funding for Kennedy Energy Park in QLD

Up to $18 million has been committed by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to phase one of the Kennedy Energy Park project – Australia’s first renewable energy park consisting of 19.2 megawatt solar photovoltaic, 21.6 megawatt wind and two megawatt of battery storage.

The project is going to be developed by a joint venture between Windlab and Eurus Energy. According to ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht, Kennedy Energy Park will be able to provide reliable and affordable power as well as pave the way for around-the-clock renewable energy.

“Kennedy Energy Park will be the first time a combined large-scale solar, wind and battery installation has connected to Australia’s national electricity market.

“Wind will generate power throughout the day and night, while solar ramps up during peak demand times when the sun is shining. Battery storage will smooth out power delivery from both sources, dispatching it when it’s needed most and increasing overall reliability,” Mr Frischknecht said.

The energy park is going to be connected to the Ergon Energy network in Queensland. This project is also the first phase for ‘Big Kennedy’ which is proposed to include up to 600 megawatts of solar photovoltaic as well as 600 megawatts of wind and a possible large-scale battery and regional pumped hydro storage.

“The proposed scale of Big Kennedy is comparable to large coal-fired plants in Queensland like Tarong or Stanwell.

“Big Kennedy could meet most of Northern Australia’s growing demand for electricity and provide as much as 20 per cent of new build capacity for Australia’s 2020 renewable energy target,” said Mr Frischknecht.

The Kennedy Energy Park is expected to be completed in 2018.

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Source: ARENA and Inside Construction