Irish energy developer DP Energy has partnered with Spanish energy giant Iberdrola to deliver a 320 MW hybrid wind and solar project in Port Augusta, South Australia.
Construction on the ground-breaking project is to commence in mid-2020.
The Port Augusta Renewable Energy Park (PAREP) is one of the new generation of renewable projects designed to provide predictable power more uniformly across the day. When complete, the PAREP will be one of the southern hemisphere’s largest hybrid renewable power stations.
The project is projected to produce approximately 900GWh per annum, enough to power around 180,000 households each year, with an emissions saving of approximately 400,000 metric tonnes of CO2 annually.
DP Energy CEO, Simon De Pietro, said, “We are delighted to have partnered with Iberdrola on this project.
“The company is a global energy leader with a track record of 31GW of renewable capacity amongst other activities. It’s exciting that they’ve chosen PAREP for their first investment in Australia and we are enthusiastic to see the project commence construction.”
Mr De Pietro said DP Energy would continue to work with stakeholders and the local community and support Iberdrola through construction and commissioning.
Country Managing Director for Iberdola, Fernando Santa Maria, said collaborating with the DP Energy team and securing investment for Iberdrola’s first project in Australia was an important milestone.
“A 320MW hybrid wind and solar project is of great significance to our team and we look forward to being involved in South Australia throughout the lifetime of the project,” Mr Santa Maria said.
DP Energy has successfully delivered 13 renewable energy projects totalling 400MW in various jurisdictions, with a further pipeline of projects totalling more than 2000MW under development across Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK. These projects variously incorporate both on and off-shore wind, solar and tidal energy technologies, with PAREP selected as the first hybrid renewable facility.
Iberdrola is a global energy leader with a history of more than 170 years, the number-one producer of wind power and one of the world’s biggest electricity utilities by market capitalisation. The group supplies energy to more than 100 million people in the countries in which it operates.
