The purpose of the AECOM Co-location investigation report was to provide ARENA and Government a deeper appreciation of the business case considerations and co-location potential in Australia; and secondly, to provide useful information to developers who are considering co-location developments.
The opportunity to retrofit existing wind farms with solar farms has significant potential not only in Australia but globally. With over 370 GW of large scale wind farms globally and 4 GW installed in Australia there are numerous locations where the two renewable resources are highly complementary.
As the renewable industry matures, becoming less dependent on subsidies and cost reductions plateau, the industry must contemplate innovative ways of improving its competitiveness.
This study highlights that co-location of wind and solar can:
- Deliver major savings in Capex and Opex
- The best locations for brownfield (retrofit) and greenfield co-location
- Importance of network access to future co-location opportunties