How hybrid energy will unlock the potential of Northern Australia

Hybrid microgrids that combine gas, renewables and battery storage technologies are key to unlocking the economic potential of Northern Australia, according to Paul Buch, GHD’s Market Leader – Energy & Resources, Western Australia.

Speaking in advance of a presentation at the Developing Northern Australia Conference in Karratha, Western Australia, Paul said hybrid technologies have matured to the point that they should be considered mainstream technologies.

“Hybridisation makes it possible to reduce cost, improve reliability and deliver greenhouse gas emissions mitigation while securing power supplies for remote industries and communities in Northern Australia,” said Paul.

“It is also a step forward in the worldwide transition to the new energy economy.”

Paul added, “Northern Australia has some of the best solar and useable wind resources, but because of its isolation from the National Energy Market, it’s only through hybridisation that we can achieve more reliable, environmentally sustainable and cost effective new energy generation for these industries and communities.” 

GHD has worked closely with Horizon Power in Western Australia to deliver the Onslow Distributed Energy Resource project, considered to be one of the most advanced distributed energy systems in Australia. The Onslow microgrid includes a mix of large and small-scale renewables and battery storage as well as a gas-fired modular power station.

“Overall, the developments show energy technology’s ability to lower operating costs, reduce carbon emissions and provide a diverse, secure and reliable energy system – all of which have major flow-on effects,” said Paul.

“There are significant opportunities to extend hybrid microgrids to mining plus the oil and gas industries. The vast majority of Australian mining operations are off-grid, typically powered by diesel generation, their current global energy demand is more than 500 petajoules but renewables currently generate a very small share of these needs. Hybridisation has the potential to achieve material cost-savings, improvements in reliability and importantly, significant environmental benefits.”

“This is just the beginning for the distributed energy journey and its potential to reshape the economies of Northern Australia,” said Paul.

Paul Buch will present ‘Cost Effectively Leveraging Emerging Technologies to Advance Northern Australia: Case Studies on Microgrids and Utility Scale Energy Storage’ at the 5^th Annual Developing Northern Australia Conference in Karratha, Western Australia. The conference is on from 11 – 12 July 2019, find out more here.