Solar Power Plant Two: Phase 1

Summary

Need

RayGen has developed a new approach to solar generation and long-duration energy storage. Today, the National Electricity Market energy grid is comprised of ~25% variable renewable energy generation through solar and wind. These generation sources are an important step for the country’s decarbonisation plan, but there are limits to the amount of variable and inverter-based generation the electricity grid can accommodate before issues start to arise. Variable generation from solar has resulted in large swings in the value of daytime electricity, which is now routinely valued at below zero during periods of high supply and low demand. Furthermore, inverter-based generation from solar and wind sources do not have the same ability to overcome voltage fluctuations in the way synchronous generators (e.g., coal-fired power stations or gas turbines) do, through natural inertia. Low system strength can lead to grid instability and, in some cases, total power failure.

Action

RayGen’s technology will accelerate Australia’s transition to 100% renewable energy by providing on-demand renewable energy (via its long-duration energy storage) and system strength (via its synchronous generator, capable to act as a synchronous condenser when solar is operating). Earlier this year, RayGen delivered its flagship 4 MW solar, 3 MW/ 50 MWh storage power plant near Mildura, Victoria. This plant successfully demonstrates how RayGen’s unique approach to solar generation can integrate with existing technologies to provide low-cost, on-demand renewable energy. RayGen is now investing in scaling our business to deliver utility-scale, grid-connected power plants across Australia. This includes growing its team of engineers and manufacturing operators to deliver the technology, securing the supply chain for solar and storage technologies and developing once-off utility-scale designs that build on the successful project near Mildura, that can be deployed at several locations across Australia.

Outcome

At the end of this project, RayGen will be prepared to deliver its growing pipeline of grid-connected, utility-scale projects across Australia. This includes securing supply chain capacity to manufacture components required for concentrated solar PV modules, heliostat mirrors and heat exchangers/chillers/turbines required for the storage technology. The project will also deliver automated assembly lines for receivers and heliostats, which will dramatically increase daily assembly capacity (for example, from 15 heliostats per day in the flagship project to 300 heliostats per day). Further, it will deliver once-off non-recurring engineering designs for a utility-scale power block, scaling designs from our 4 MW solar, 3 MW/50MWh storage project to repeatable ‘blocks’ of 50 MW solar, 29 MW/ 350 MWh storage capacity for large-scale deployment.

Additional Impact

RayGen expect the scale-up of the business to have a significant impact on Australia’s renewable energy industry. They are currently commissioning Australia’s largest solar module manufacturing facility (170 MW per annum), with plans to expand manufacturing to the GW-scale (creating hundreds of new jobs) to supply a growing pipeline of projects. Its solar technology has been met favourably by landowners at prospective project sites because the low footprint of the technology is conducive to support grazing agriculture after a project is deployed.