The integration of large-scale solar and battery storage in Australia is accelerating, with Gentari’s 243 MWp Maryvale Solar & Energy Storage project in New South Wales (NSW) breaking ground this week.
The hybrid facility, pairing photovoltaic generation with a 172 MW/409 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS), is positioned to deliver up to 172 MW of dispatchable electricity—enough to power roughly 82,000 homes annually—while cutting an estimated 615,000 tones of CO₂ emissions each year.
Unlike conventional solar farms, the DC-coupled configuration at Maryvale allows excess generation to be stored directly in the BESS, optimizing capture of midday solar peaks and smoothing output during periods of low irradiance or high demand. This design aims to reduce curtailment losses while improving revenue stability—an increasingly important factor as the National Electricity Market (NEM) faces growing variability from renewable penetration.
Maryvale secured a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) under the NSW Government’s Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap—one of the state’s key policy mechanisms to accelerate renewable investment. The LTESA model, administered by AEMO Services as the NSW Consumer Trustee, offers developers an optional price floor for energy, reducing merchant price risk and unlocking access to debt financing. This approach reflects a broader trend toward hybrid revenue models blending merchant exposure with contracted revenue to attract institutional capital.
The site’s location in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ) further aligns it with NSW’s spatial planning strategy for large-scale renewables, leveraging high solar irradiance levels and planned transmission upgrades to facilitate grid integration.
Gentari’s design targets not just clean energy generation, but grid-stabilizing services—capabilities increasingly critical as coal-fired generation retires. The BESS will enable time-shifting of renewable output and provide ancillary services such as frequency control, improving the reliability of variable renewable resources. By firming its own generation, Maryvale is expected to reduce the need for gas-fired peaking plants, contributing to decarbonization while supporting operational stability in the NEM.
At peak construction, Maryvale is projected to create up to 360 jobs, with procurement strategies aimed at boosting local supply chains. Gentari has committed to establishing a community benefit fund and collaborating with local government on infrastructure and housing needs. Engagement with First Nations groups is also positioned as a key part of the project’s social license, though the long-term impact of such measures will depend on transparent benefit-sharing and sustained involvement.
PCL Construction’s Solar Division is acting as EPC contractor, with Tier 1 suppliers—Trinasolar for PV modules and Contemporary Amperex Technology Australia for BESS hardware—providing major components through direct procurement. The choice of DC-coupled architecture, still relatively uncommon at this scale in Australia, reflects an industry shift toward designs that better capture solar overgeneration and enable more responsive dispatch.
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