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FRV Australia and Habitat Energy optimize first hybrid solar and storage project
Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) Australia, a leading developer of sustainable energy solutions, has announced that Dalby, its first hybrid solar and storage project in Australia, is operational. FRV has been working in partnership with Habitat Energy, a global optimizer of battery storage and renewable energy assets, to optimize the project.
Located near Brisbane, Queensland, Dalby consists of a 2.45MWdc solar PV array with 2.54MW / 5MWh of battery storage. It is FRV’s first battery project in Australia and represents one of the country’s first co-located solar and storage greenfield developments, with the two technologies sharing the same grid connection.
Dalby’s output is connected to Ergon’s distribution network, allowing the project to supply and take electricity from the grid and trade in the National Electricity Market. The facility has an operating life of around 30 years and can generate enough clean electricity to power over 1,600 homes, saving over 3,500 tonnes of CO2 per year.
During available operations, Habitat Energy has successfully captured over 87% of the achievable revenues for the facility, under a methodology that compares the optimization using realised market prices instead of forecasts, often termed as ‘percentage of perfect’.
Performance has been consistent across a range of market conditions, including record-breaking days for demand characterised by extremely high market prices, when capturing price spikes is critical.
Habitat Energy’s approach combines advanced AI-driven forecasting and optimisation with a team of local data scientists, software engineers and experienced traders overseeing optimization, bidding and dispatch. The company offers a fully-integrated ‘one stop’ optimization service which offers the flexibility to optimise for critical periods in both energy and FCAS markets.
Renewable energy coupled with storage is vital to match supply with demand and deliver clean, low cost, reliable power. Analysis suggests an additional 10GW of utility scale storage and an additional 38GW of wind and solar are needed in order for Australia to meet 82% of its electricity demand from renewables by the end of the decade.
Solar is Australia’s fastest growing power source, but to unleash the potential of this clean, cheap and abundant electricity we need to rapidly scale-up battery storage. Hybrid sites like Dalby are the way forward, and we’re enormously pleased to be working with Habitat Energy to maximize the performance of this innovative project and accelerate Australia’s clean energy transition.
”Carlo Frigerio, CEO, FRV
Co-located sites bring an additional level of complexity to the optimization challenge. Determining which market each asset should be in and when to deliver the best combined outcome is an ever-moving task, which is why Habitat Energy blend AI-powered market analysis with a team of expert human traders who understand the nuances of the different technologies and markets. We’re excited to be working with a forward-looking company like FRV Australia who recognise the potential of this approach to transform Australia’s electricity system and deliver a zero carbon grid.
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