"Island-able" solar-battery microgrid wins funding to keep lights on in town at the end of the line

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has awarded $3 million in funding to EDP Renewables Australia to develop the Braidwood Renewable Microgrid Project in the NSW Southern Tablelands.

The Braidwood Renewable Energy Project is being developed by EDP Renewables Australia, the local subsidiary of Portuguese electric utility EDP, in partnership with Essential Energy and Braidwood Clean Energy.

Designed as a community-focused microgrid pilot designed to strengthen long-term energy resilience across Australia – in particular in vulnerable sections of the national electricity network – the Braidwood microgrid will consist of a town-scale 5 megawatt (MWac) solar system and a two-hour 5 MW, or 10 megawatt-hour (MWh), battery energy storage system (BESS).

Braidwood, a small town located 60 kilometres east of Canberra, is positioned at the end of a single distribution line in a high bushfire risk area. This means that any damage or disruption to distribution lines in the region can cause prolonged power outages for the town and surrounding communities.

Plans for a microgrid were initiated in response to the 2019-20 “Black Summer” bushfire crisis, which hit Braidwood particularly hard.