- The firm has purchased a ready-to-build project for a 125 MW solar PV farm with a battery energy storage system.
- Construction of the project is planned to commence in the fourth quarter of this year to have it ready for commercial operations in the first quarter of 2024.
Naturgy Energy Group, a Spanish electric and gas utility, has purchased a ready-to-build project for a 125 MW solar PV farm with a battery energy storage system (BESS) of about 220 MWh in Cunderdin, Western Australia. Naturgy, in an announcement, revealed that the company had acquired Cunderdin development from Sun Bread Power (SBP) for an undisclosed fee. The company also plans to invest EUR 160 million into the project.
Construction of the project is planned to commence in the fourth quarter of this year to have it ready for commercial operations in the first quarter of 2024. The utility also noted that the facilities would be connected to Western Australia’s South West Interconnected System.
Naturgy will build the Cunderdin project through Global Power Generation (GPG), its joint venture with Kuwait Investment Authority, Kuwait’s sovereign wealth fund. Cunderdin is Naturgy’s first hybrid power project in the world, its first solar PV project in Australia, and Australia’s first solar-plus-storage hybrid, according to the company.
Through GPG, Naturgy operates two wind farms in Australia, the 96-MW Crookwell 2 and the 180-MW Berrybank 1. Currently, it is wrapping up the commissioning process for the 109-MW Berrybank 2 wind farm and a 10-MW/20-MWh BESS in the Australian Capital Territory.