Renewable energy investment fund Solar Bay and logistics company Logos have begun construction of Australia’s largest rooftop solar photovoltaic system, airlifting the first of more than 120,000 solar panels to be installed atop an 800,000m² industrial warehouse in Sydney’s southwest.
Solar Bay signed a 30-year agreement with Logos to install and operate 60MW of rooftop solar PV panels and 150MWh of battery energy storage to provide grid and retail energy services to Moorebank Logistics tenants Park (MLP) near Port Botany in the capital of New South Wales.
MLP is Australia’s largest intermodal freight facility. The 243-hectare site connects Port Botany to rail terminals and warehousing, acting as a national distribution center for interstate operations.
Logos, which was part of a consortium that bought the facility in 2021 in a $1.67 billion deal, will finance the construction of the 60 MW rooftop solar PV array and storage system. of 150 MWh battery power with Solar Bay, based in Sydney, ensuring the continuous operation of the on-board network.
“This maximizes results for everyone involved – from Solar Bay as operator, to Logos as investment and development manager, to our tenants, with MLP’s economies of scale providing a distinct and leading advantage. market with the amount of renewable energy supplied via a microgrid,” said Logos Australia and New Zealand Director Darren Searle.
Once fully operational, the enclosure-scale microgrid, which will operate at a combination of 11 kV and 33 kV, will be able to supply 100% of MLP’s energy needs during the day and will source electricity from an off-site wind farm to provide renewable energy. electricity outside peak solar production periods.
Picture: Logos
Solar Bay’s chief investment officer, James Doyle, said the rooftop solar and battery storage system will connect to the high-voltage grid at multiple points, with complementary technology such as fast electric vehicle/truck chargers. megawatt scale that can also be integrated throughout the district.
“MLP is a great example of the convergence between real estate and energy infrastructure that we are seeing in Australia and New Zealand,” Searle said. “A precinct-scale microgrid facilitates on-site installation of large-scale solar and battery power, providing tenants with the ability to access a large amount of renewable electricity that matches the scale of their electrified operations.”
The combined solar and battery capacity on the roof will generate enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 40,000 homes, avoiding approximately 67.2 kilotons of carbon emissions each year.
The companies said the impact of the MLP solar and battery microgrid will extend far beyond the site itself and “play a key role in national, regional and local economies given its size, its scale and influence”.
“With a number of significant loads at the MLP being deflectable in real time, the site will also interact with the National Energy Market (NEM),” the companies said in a statement. “This will optimize the consumption of on-site generation and provide services to the NEM when needed, through demand response and the auxiliary market.”
Image: Solar bay
Although already massive, the rooftop solar system is expected to grow further. With over 800,000 m² of roof space within the compound, the 243 hectare site has the capacity to accommodate up to 130 MW of rooftop solar, capable of generating 183 GWh of electricity per year.
Doyle said future stages of the microgrid could be used to meet changing tenant needs, including thermal storage, hydrogen generation and supply, and related low-emissions infrastructure.
“With over 800,000 m² of possible solar roof, we can also contribute to the decarbonisation of transport and use excess production to produce low-emission fuels such as hydrogen,” he said.
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