Octopus Australia has broken ground on the €540m Blind Creek solar farm and battery project in Bungendore, New South Wales.
The project will combine a 300MW solar farm with a 243MW/486MWh battery energy storage system designed to capture electricity during the day and dispatch it into the evening peak, Octopus Australia said.
The company added that the project will connect via a new substation into the transmission backbone between Sydney and Canberra.
Construction is being led by EPC contractor GRS, while Wärtsilä Energy Storage will supply the battery energy storage system.
The Blind Creek project is expected to support up to 300 full-time equivalent jobs at peak construction, with about half sourced from the Bungendore and Monaro regions.
Octopus Australia said the project has backing from investors including Australian superannuation funds Hostplus and Rest, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Westpac Private Bank and Dutch pension fund APG.
The project was initiated in partnership with local sheep farmers and has been designed to allow animal production to continue on the land.
Blind Creek is scheduled to become fully operational in 2028.
“This is the kind of project New South Wales needs as we replace ageing energy infrastructure,” said Chris Minns, premier of New South Wales.
“The Blind Creek project is creating local jobs, and it will help deliver the replacement energy that households and businesses rely on.”