Capturing solar energy to deliver ‘microgrid’ power to remote towns in Western Australia

ABB's microgrid solution diminishes fuel generation.

A microgrid solution from ABB enables multiple energy sources, maximizing the intake of solar power generation and minimizing diesel fuel generation.

The sun has made Marble Bar, Australia a unique town in the modern sense. It is the site of one of the world’s first utility-scale, high-penetration solar photovoltaic diesel power stations. ABB, through its Darwin-based team, worked closely with Horizon Power and SunPower Australia to install these new power stations, which are setting benchmarks – at an 85 percent peak – for isolated hybrid diesel power systems with extremely high renewable energy generation and conversion.

The hybrid solution includes a photovoltaic and a diesel generation plant as well as integration and control solutions. The microgrid is equipped with ABB’s PowerStoreTM kinetic flywheel grid stabilizing technology which enables high solar energy penetration by injecting or absorbing power extremely fast in order to stabilize fluctuating power output from the solar power plant. ABB’s Microgrid Plus technology will help control the network.