Tesla and Vestas partnership: AU$160mn renewable project

Tesla Inc. and Vestas Wind Systems A/S have partnered to develop an AU$160mn renewable energy project that combines wind, solar, and storage technologies.

The American Tesla will be providing batteries, whilst Danish Vestas will supply wind turbines for the first phased of the Kennedy Energy Park.

The 60.2MW capacity project is situated in Flinders Shire, north-central Queensland, and funded by the Clean Energy Finance Corp. and the Australia Renewable Energy Agency.

The two companies have created the first renewable energy development that connects three power technologies to the Australian grid through a single connection point once completed by the end of 2018.

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The amalgamation of energy sources will help provide reliable electricity supplies, defeating one of the major issue with intermitted renewable energy generation technologies.

“Renewables are often seen as not so reliable because we can’t control what we produce; control is what we are addressing here,” reported Clive Turton, President of Vestas Asia Pacific.

The development will position 12 of Vesta’s V136-3.6MW turbines and a 4MWh Tesla ion battery in Flinders Shire, where there is a 15MW solar power capacity. This will all be managed by Vestas’ control system.

Project equity will be equally provided by Windlab and Eurus Energy Holdings Corp., with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation providing $93.5mn in debt finance, and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency supplying $18mn in a subordinated refundable grant.