<
https://onestepoffthegrid.com.au/almond-farm-adds-solar-and-battery-to-cut-costs-slash-emissions-and-join-virtual-power-plant/>
"Nestled in a sea of trees in the New South Wales Riverina region, more than
10,000 solar panels have been installed alongside a battery energy storage
system to help one of the world’s largest growers of almonds clean up its act.
The 5.99MW solar farm, paired with a 2.3MW/4.5MWh BESS, has been installed at
the Kerarbury almond orchard operated by Olam Food Ingredients (OFI) in
Griffith.
According to AGL Energy, which delivered the project using Trina Solar panels,
the new PV and battery system will be backed up by the grid when required, but
should be able to achieve renewable energy penetration of up to 83 per cent.
“We work with [agribusinesses] to transition away from reliance on diesel or
grid electricity, to electrify through renewable sources like solar and battery
storage, with cost effective solutions,” says AGL Group general manager of
electrification and innovation, Ryan Warburton.
“This will be AGL’s third major system built for almond industry clients. Each
system is designed and built to meet the specific needs of each farm.
“AGL will operate and maintain the system over a 20-year partnership, allowing
ofi to focus on almond production at Kerarbury.”
Warburton says the Trina solar panels will use a single axis tracking system to
follow the sun, taking them from almost upright at the start of the day, facing
east and then following the sun to the west over the course of the day.
With an expected annual solar generation of 14,000MWh, the project could
theoretically provide power for a whole year to the adjacent town of Griffith,
estimated to have a population of just under 30,000.
As well as powering the farm, the hybrid system will form part of AGL Energy’s
virtual power plant (VPP), a large bank of controllable energy that can help to
stabilise the grid and further support renewables.
AGL currently manages 296MW of commercial solar, and decentralised assets like
battery energy storage systems."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
