The German Conergy group (www.conergy.com) has begun building what it says will be Australia’s first grid-connected solar power and energy storage project — in northern Queensland.

Construction work for the $42.5 million project is now taking place near the town of Lakeland, the developer said. The plant will consist of a 13MW photo-voltaic plant and a 1.4MW Conergy battery system that will ensure “a consistent power supply, even when cloudy”.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (arena.gov.au) has provided 17.4 million Australian dollars towards the project and German bank Nord/LB has provided a 15-year non-recourse loan. Conergy expects to complete the facility by next April.

Managing director David McCallum said: “Utility-scale solar and storage, combined with effective management software, is the ‘holy grail’ of the global renewable-energy industry; with this project, we are well within reach of it.

“This is an exciting opportunity to combine the latest developments in solar technology with utility-scale battery storage to feed consistent power into the existing electricity grid.”