Edify Energy Advances Australian Solar-Storage Projects

Why this is here: The projects will feature 2,400MWh of battery energy storage—enough to power roughly 720,000 homes for a day.

Edify Energy reached financial close on two solar-plus-storage projects in Queensland, Australia. The company will build the Smoky Creek and Guthrie’s Gap power stations on the traditional lands of the Gaangalu Nation People. These sites will deliver 720MWp of solar generation paired with 600MW/2,400MWh of battery storage.

Rio Tinto will purchase 90% of the power and storage under a 20-year agreement. This will supply the company’s Gladstone aluminium operations with lower-carbon energy. La Caisse and a group of 14 lenders are providing financial support for the projects.

The financing structure is new to the Australian market. It’s designed to support the development of more renewable energy projects.

Edify secured long-term revenue support through the Australian government’s Capacity Investment Scheme. The projects will use DC-coupled hybrid configurations with grid-forming inverters to improve grid stability. Further work remains to fully integrate these systems as older power plants retire.