Australia could soon be home to one of the largest wind-solar hybrid power projects with storage in the world.

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has approved the development of a 200 MW solar plus storage project at CWP’s existing wind farm of 270 MW capacity.

The company behind the 270 MW Sapphire Wind Farm, CWP, said the move will expand the wind farm to wind, solar and battery hybrid project called the Sapphire Renewable Energy Hub. The Sapphire Wind Farm commenced construction in January 2017 and is expected to be fully operational in the coming months.

Construction of the solar and battery infrastructure is anticipated to commence construction in early 2019 and will take approximately 14 months. CWP’s Head of Development, Ed Mounsey, said that the expanded project will bring the next big wave of renewable energy investment to the New England region, together with renewable energy leadership.

“Construction of the wind farm has created 150-200 jobs over a two-year period. Construction of the solar and battery infrastructure will create an additional 150-200 jobs and will extend the benefits for local businesses,” he added.

“The New England region is unique, in that there is a natural correlation between the generation profiles of wind and solar. Combining wind and solar together with battery storage will allow large-scale, dispatchable renewable energy to be exported from the region. The Sapphire Renewable Energy Hub will be the largest such project in the world. This is the future of energy generation in Australia, being constructed right now,” Mounsey further said.

Recently, Equis Energy, a renewable energy independent power producer (IPP), achieved financial closure for the 127 MW Tailem Bend solar photovoltaic (PV) project in southern Australia.