MELBOURNE, Dec 29 (Reuters) - Neoen SA said its
Bulgana wind farm and battery project in Australia has finally
been fully switched on two years behind schedule, after
overcoming problems hooking up to a grid with limited capacity
for an influx of renewable energy.
The A$350 million ($253 million) project comprises a 204
megawatt wind farm in the village of Bulgana in Victoria, which
first started operating at limited capacity in 2020, and a
connected 20 MW battery, which was switched on in July.
When construction began in 2018, the target date for
completing the project was August 2019.
"Connecting our Bulgana Power Hub to the grid was a long and
challenging process, but we are proud of having overcome it
thanks to the team's dedication," Neoen Australia's Managing
director Louis de Sambucy said in a statement.
The project is being supported by a 15-year agreement with
the Victoria state government to help the state reach a
legislated target to get 50% of its power from renewables by
2030 - up from 32% in 2021.
Part of the government's support included paying for 10% of
the power from the project to supply a vegetable producer,
Nectar Farms, which was going to build a 30-hectare glasshouse
operation near the wind farm.
However Nectar Farms went into liquidation in April
following delays brought on by the coronavirus pandemic. So now
all of the power from the Bulgana project will go into the
National Electricity Market.
Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy designed and
built the Bulgana project and Tesla Inc supplied the
big battery.
($1 = 1.3833 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)