The project is owned by renewable energy producer Neoen Australia, who was planning to start construction of the hub this month. 

The combined wind farm and battery storage operation was expected to open in August 2019. 

One agreement for Neoen  is with the state government for 15 years.

The other contract is for 10 years with Nectar Farms, the Australian agribusiness where the hub will be built, who will use Siemens’ LED light technology to grow tomatoes in glasshouses. 

SGRE will build the wind farm with 56 of the firm’s SG 3.4-132 turbines (for total capacity of 194 MW) and a battery energy storage system.

The hybrid facility will comprise of a 194 MW wind farm, as well as a 20 MW / 34 MWh lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery.

It is estimated that 97% of Nectar Farms’ electricity needs will be supplied by 15 per cent of all of the electricity generated at the wind plus storage facility, with the rest going directly to the local grid.

Only 3 per cent of Nectar Farms' energy demand cannot be supplied with wind energy when longer no-wind-periods occur.

This is the fourth engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract undertaken by Siemens Gamesa for Neoen in Australia.