Featured in The Quality Issue – 04-2019

Syncons come back Down Under

Sometimes there are old solutions to new problems. But often the problem would be best avoided in the first place. The developers of one of Australia’s most ambitious solar and eventually battery storage projects encountered precisely this – as the rate of wind and large-scale solar development in Australia outstrips the capabilities of the grid, at least in some locations.

By

Jonathan Gifford

02 Apr 2019

This synchronous condenser was installed at the Templestowe substation in Melbourne in 1966. This old technology for providing intertia and system stability has now been deployed in support of the 450 MW Kiamal solar farm in Victoria. | Image: Mriya

In December 2016, French project developer and IPP Total Eren began work in earnest on the Kiamal Solar Farm, a two-stage project that will be the largest in the state of Victoria when completed in late 2019 or early 2020. And the plans are big. Stage one of Kiamal is currently under construction and will …

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