RES Secures Permit for Wind Plus Storage Project in Australia

RES has secured planning permission for the 185 MW Twin Creek Wind Farm and battery storage facility in Adelaide.

RES, one the world’s largest independent renewable energy company, has secured planning permission for the 51-turbine Twin Creek Wind Farm and battery storage facility, 90 km to the north of Adelaide.

Following development consents for the 200 MW Avonlie Solar Project in New South Wales in August and the 176 MW Pallamana Solar Farm in South Australia in July, this sees the firm surpass 2 GW of permitted wind and solar projects in Australia.

In addition, RES’ pipeline of third-party construction services and asset management contracts continues to grow to support a large number of renewable and solar projects across the country entering long term operation, with more than 750 MW under management to date.

The 185 MW Twin Creek project is sited near to the proposed 275-kV transmission line linking South Australia and New South Wales, Project Energy Connect. Once completed, the state, already a leader in Australian renewables with wind and solar accounting for more than 50 percent of energy generation, will be ideally positioned as an exporter of high volumes of renewable energy to the eastern seaboard.

Dan Leahy, Twin Creek project manager, RES, said that the team sited and designed Twin Creek Wind Farm to make the best possible use of the very high wind speeds recorded at the exposed, ridgeline site whilst responding to the unique environmental circumstances and concerns of the local community.

Matt Rebbeck, CEO of RES in Australia, said that “to ensure continued investor confidence in the sector each and every project must be well-sited for both resource and grid connection. RES has worked to manage these market challenges and, as a result, has built a particularly strong project pipeline. As such, we’re pleased to announce that the permitting of Twin Creek Wind Farm sees us exceed 2 GW approved for development.”

Renewable energy continues to see encouraging growth in Australia, but to ensure investor confidence and sustain this expansion, increasingly advanced development and asset management approaches are called for. Ongoing success will be dependent on the ability of renewable energy firms to navigate development challenges such as grid connection hurdles, and operational challenges like price risk, with increasingly sophisticated asset management, approaches.