New factory for standalone solar+storage systems in Australia

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From pv magazine Australia

Pacific Energy subsidiary Hybrid Systems Australia has confirmed that it will build a new factory in Perth to produce off-grid and edge-of-grid systems.

Hybrid Systems Australia, a subsidiary of QIC-owned Pacific Energy, has taken an initial 10-year lease at the Perth Airport industrial precinct, where the purpose-built facility will be located. Hybrid Systems Australia said the new facility will allow it to increase production capacity and to service growing demand for standalone power systems (SPS).

In February the Western Australian government said that it had set aside AUD 218 million ($167 million) to manufacture and install more than 1,000 SPS in the state over the next five years.

Pacific Energy CEO Jamie Cullen said modeling by Western Power showed about 6,000 viable properties in Western Australia where SPS units could be installed in the years ahead.

“This investment is a recognition that increasing energy decentralisation and decarbonization pressures are going to drive demand for clean energy sources such as SPS and the bigger grid-connected battery energy storage systems (BESS),” he said. “This is the biggest SPS manufacturing facility in the world as far as we are aware.”

Cullen said the technology is also ideally suited to Queensland. Hybrid Systems Australia has estimated future demand of about 2,000 SPS in the state.

Since 2016, Western Power has installed 58 SPS in Western Australia. Western Power CEO Ed Kalajzic said the power utility would continue to roll out SPS to improve power reliability in regional and remote areas.

“Like many electricity networks around the world, Western Power is looking at ways we can improve power reliability and quality and improve operational and cost efficiencies for the community,” Kalajzic said. “We’re increasingly using renewables and SPS provides a viable alternative to traditional poles and wires while realizing commercial, social, and environmental benefits.”

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