BSR EPC, the UK’s leading large-scale solar contractor, has been selected to deliver engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for a 33MW solar and storage facility in Katherine, Northern Territory. The Katherine project was developed by a joint venture between Epuron, a leading Australian renewable energy specialist, and Island Green Power, a successful UK-based renewable energy developer. The project was recently acquired by Eni, the Italian Fortune Global 500 energy company.

A 6MW battery energy storage system was added during project design to provide stability to the Northern Territory’s 200MW grid. BSR EPC is a pioneer in the UK energy storage market having successfully constructed one of the UK’s largest batteries (49.9MW) in December 2017.

“2019 is forecast to become the first year that global solar installations top 100GW and we are excited to contribute to this impressive milestone with our first project in Australia,” said Graham Harding, Managing Director of BSR Group. “We have developed a reputation in the UK for delivering long-term quality and performance and Katherine will be another case in point, built and managed by our world-class team.”

The Katherine project integrates energy storage within the solar array. The battery will use smart technology to smooth fluctuations in generation (ramp-rate control) and manage energy supply according to local demand (frequency response), reducing strain on the grid. Smoothing and output forecasting will also be achieved via the installation of cloud coverage predicting technology.

Construction will start on the Katherine solar and storage facility from March 2019 and it will be operational from Q4 2019. BSR EPC has opened an office in Sydney, Australia, to support its work in the country, and will continue operations in the UK and Europe.

Martin Poole, Executive Director of Epuron, said: “BSR Group and Epuron share common ground, particularly when it comes to our working philosophies: we both take a long-term approach to partnerships, looking to share knowledge and transfer learnings from one project to the next.”

BSR EPC has built 550MW of solar and energy storage projects in the UK, including the UK’s four largest solar parks and one of the largest batteries. Following the completion of construction BSR will also be providing operations and maintenance services to the Katherine Solar and Storage facility.