One of the first projects in Australia to combine grid-forming wind energy generation with DC-coupled battery storage at a utility scale – and one of the first of its kind to be backed by federal Labor’s Capacity Investment Scheme – has won approval to connect to the main grid, the National Electricity Market (NEM).
Baldon wind farm and DC-coupled battery, proposed for construction north of Moulemein in south-western New South Wales, has this week received Generator Performance Standard (GPS) approval from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and Transgrid.
The hybrid wind and storage project, which is being jointly developed by Goldwind Australia and Omni Wind Farm Pty Ltd, is still making its way through both the state development approval and federal EPBC approval processes.
According to referral documents, the project has variously proposed installing up to 1,400 megawatts (MW) of wind and up to 200 MW and 800 megawatt-hours (MWh) of storage.
But the GPS approval announced on Tuesday is for a first stage of the project, which is proposed at 346 MW wind generation project integrated with a 132 MWh DC-coupled battery energy storage system.
