New Solar and Thermal Storage Plant Boosts West Murray Grid

New solar and long duration storage plant opens for West Murray grid

In collaboration with AGL, RayGen has inaugurated its cutting-edge solar and long-duration thermal storage plant, providing a substantial boost to the West Murray grid. This facility adds 4MW of solar generation and 2.8MW/50MWh of storage capacity, representing a significant advancement in renewable energy infrastructure.

The plant employs an array of intelligent, rotating mirrors to concentrate solar energy. This concentrated solar energy is then harnessed alongside stored energy in two water reservoirs, creating an innovative ‘hot and cold’ solar hydro solution. Having achieved “commissioning complete” status, AGL’s agreement with RayGen for the entire plant’s output is set to take effect soon.

This facility is expected to reduce CO₂e emissions by approximately 7,000 tons annually and generate enough renewable electricity to power around 1,700 average Victorian homes.

Markus Brokhof, Chief Operating Officer of AGL, highlighted the potential of this innovative technology for addressing the challenge of long-duration energy storage, especially in terms of scalability. He expressed enthusiasm for the project’s contribution to enhancing the local electricity grid’s capacity and flexibility.

RayGen’s CEO, Richard Payne, emphasized the critical role of storage in congested grids like West Murray. RayGen’s thermal storage system can efficiently store electricity for days, weeks, or months with minimal losses. It can discharge continuously at full capacity for 17 hours without the need for recharging, recovering over 70 percent of stored electricity during discharge.

Payne also praised AGL as a valuable partner in the energy storage market, commending their advice and commercial agreements that helped validate RayGen’s technology.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has allocated $10 million in funding to RayGen to further advance its advanced solar and thermal storage technology towards large-scale deployment. This financial support will facilitate the technology’s design improvements, cost reductions, and a basic and front-end engineering design (FEED) for a planned utility-scale 200MW solar and 115MW/1.2GWh storage deployment in Australia.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller emphasized that RayGen’s technology will play a vital role in meeting Australia’s future needs for dispatchable electricity and energy storage. Over the past decade, ARENA has actively supported RayGen’s journey, from early design validation to pilot-scale projects and now utility-scale assets.

Darren Miller stated, “RayGen’s solar-and-storage technology could make a significant contribution to addressing Australia’s growing need for dispatchable renewable electricity and longer duration energy storage.”

This project represents a significant step forward in advancing renewable energy solutions and achieving Australia’s net-zero emissions goals.