FIMER, working alongside Peel Renewable Energy, has developed a customised solar battery and microgrid solution to supply power to the Peel Business Park in Nambeelup, Western Australia.

It is the first-ever renewable energy microgrid in Australia to power an industrial estate. The energy solution will deliver safe, reliable and green energy to the tenants of the estate at an expected energy cost savings of around 30% compared to published tariffs in Western Australia.

The Peel Business Park is a multi-staged 1,000-hectare greenfield industrial estate being developed in Nambeelup (approximately 70km south of Perth) in Western Australia. DevelopmentWA (the state government’s land developer) has activated the first phase of the Peel Business Park, with Stage 1 lots released in 2020.

Due to the remoteness of this new industrial development area, an existing power connection to the traditional grid did not exist, and it was not economically feasible to construct and extend a new full-supply grid connection to the site.

An onsite, behind the meter solar and battery solution was highlighted as the most cost-effective, reliable and green alternative to a traditional servicing approach. By using a microgrid solution, the business park will instead use locally generated renewable energy directly from an onsite solar farm, along with a battery energy storage system, to power over 50% of the site.

The renewable energy solution includes a 1.2 MW solar farm, incorporating over 2,772 bi-facial 440W panels with a NEXTracker single-axis tracking system, a FIMER skid mounted solar & battery inverter system with medium voltage power distribution system and a 2.5 MWh Saft battery energy storage system.

FIMER Australia utility-scale solar manager Aaron Zadeh says the team is extremely excited to have been part of this ground-breaking solution with Peel Renewable Energy, Avora Energy, Sunrise Energy Group, Jarrah Solutions and DevelopmentWA: “FIMER custom designed and manufactured this solution for the project. It’s a unique ‘hybrid inverter station’ that hosts both a solar inverter and battery converter on a single medium voltage station. It uses FIMER’s PVS980 technology and offers a range of benefits to Peel Business Park tenants.

“FIMER’s technology can shape how small utility-scale microgrids can thrive in Australia moving forward.”