Lyon announces $660m solar project, launches battery storage tender

Lyon Group has launched a new $660 million solar storage project in Nowingi in north-west Victoria. 

The Nowingi project’s 250 MW solar generation will charge an 80 MW/160 MWh battery storage system. It will use 2.3 million solar panels and the battery storage system would deliver power on demand. The project is expected to employ around 250 workers and construction is set to commence in the coming months. 

The group has also commenced a tender process under which parties involved in the energy market can express an interest in purchasing any or all of the market services provided by a portfolio of the Lyon Group’s battery storage projects.

The project portfolio within the scope of the tender includes Nowingi (Victoria), and the already announced Cape York (Queensland) and Riverland (South Australia). These projects total 635 MW of solar PV and 200 MW/640 MWh of storage. 

Lyon Group Partner David Green said his company’s tender was an opportunity for electricity retailers and generators, large electricity users and other sector participants.

“Lyon is able to offer multiple services from the same battery system, and flexibility in contract size to accommodate various users,” Green said.  “Lyon will enter into commercial contracts for real services provided by physical assets. This is not a theoretical exercise.”

Services that large-scale battery storage systems can provide include energy price arbitrage, load shifting, renewable energy ramp control, frequency control and ancillary services, caps, network control and system restart ancillary services, marginal loss factor services and firming capacity. 

The outcome of the tender will influence the final engineering design of the projects’ battery storage systems.

“These projects are working through development consultation and approvals. The land has been secured, technology and other commercial arrangements are in place, and the required network capacity analysis and consultations are well advanced. Lyon’s projects are 100% equity financed.” 

“Projects like these are the heart of Australia’s energy transition, allowing for substantially higher levels of variable, low-emissions generation while strengthening the resilience of the system.”

Green said the recent Finkel report into the future of Australia’s electricity market shone a spotlight on large-scale battery storage and its central role in the evolving energy system.

“Lyon’s battery storage market services tender is a reflection of the new energy world the Finkel report describes. It is real and it is happening.

“Large-scale battery storage will be integral to meeting the energy security obligations recommended by Dr Finkel.”

Large-scale battery storage provides a cost-effective alternative to network infrastructure upgrades and new gas generation. It ensures the true value of large-scale renewables can be realised and provides multiple capacity and security services to the energy market at any given moment.

“As the cost of large-scale solar with storage has fallen, the interest of international investors has risen considerably.”

The Lyon Group’s Australian project pipeline currently comprises more than 1700 MW of large-scale solar and 1000 MW of large-scale battery storage.

Image caption: Artist’s impression of the Nowingi project.