Coober Pedy renewable hybrid project achieves its first 24 hour 100% renewables milestone

EDL is pleased to announce the South Australian town of Coober Pedy has been successfully powered entirely off 100% renewable energy for more than 24 hours uninterrupted for the first time since its hybrid solar, wind and battery project began operations.

EDL CEO, James Harman said: “Since commissioning on 1 July, we’ve been very pleased with the performance of the Renewable Hybrid project in Coober Pedy. The system is performing in line with our expectations, delivering an increasing amount of zero emissions electricity to the residents and businesses of Coober Pedy. Diesel savings expected over the 20-year life of the project are expected to be 70% on average.”

“On 20/21 September the hybrid project achieved a significant milestone through supplying100% renewables to the town of Coober Pedy for a continuous period of more than 24 hours. In total, the town was powered by 100% renewables for an uninterrupted 35 hours. As the sole source of power for the town which is remote from the grid we consider this a tremendous achievement in the early stages of the project’s life.”

Mr Harman said that in addition to today’s milestone the system had already generated impressive reductions in diesel consumption for generating electricity:

• Total diesel consumption reduced by 381,000 litres since commencement of operations in July
• 61% diesel saving in August
• 72% diesel saving 1- 21 September“Since the start of September, the system has spent more than 174 hours or 35% of the time in Zero Diesel Operation (ZDO) which meant Coober Pedy was running on 100% renewable energy. Over time we expect that to increase even more.“We are anticipating system performance to further improve as it is fine-tuned and our modeling anticipates ZDO operation for more than 50% of the time as the performance of this technically complex project is optimised.Mr Harman said Energy Developments would continue to optimise the system to deliver further ZDO uptime and reductions in diesel consumption. This project is expected to set global benchmarks for renewable penetration in off grid Mega Watt scale generation while maintaining reliability at a level the same or better than the diesel power station that EDL has been operating since 2004.Facts about the Coober Pedy Renewable Hybrid Project

The Renewable Hybrid Project involves a hybrid combination of 4 MW wind, 1 MW solar, and a 1 MW/500kWh battery with the support of various enabling technologies to integrate the renewable and diesel generators to provide Coober Pedy with at least 70% renewable energy over the 20 year life of the Project.

The project received funding support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), which agreed to provide funding up to $18.4M for the development and construction of the project.

For additional information, please contact:
Ben Wilson or John Frey GRACosways +61 2 8353 0414