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SMA accelerates Australia’s renewable transition through German / Australian cooperation
Solar
By Joshua Birmingham, Project Sales Director, SMA Australia
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The large-scale solar market in Australia has been progressing at enormous speed. The uptake of renewable energies to power Australia has seen unique challenges. Through the collaboration between German and Australian market players, SMA Solar Technology AG has become a key player in driving the renewable transition and has supplied over 60 per cent of Australia’s large-scale solar farms.
The progress of the renewable energy transition in Australia has been nothing short of remarkable. In 2015, Broken Hill Solar Farm became the first utilityscale solar farm connected to the National Electricity Market (NEM). In just five years, Australia now has up to 6.5GW of solar connected to the NEM. SMA Solar Technology, through its subsidiary SMA Australia Pty Ltd, has supplied around 65% of those plants. The speed of this development has presented a unique set of challenges. A grid once dominated by centralised and synchronised generation assets has become a diffuse web of consumers, prosumers and producers. SMA, through its ingenuity, innovation and commitment to the Australian market, has made the most of these opportunities.
SMA was founded in 1981 in Niestetal, Germany, and has been a trend setter in renewable energy technology for the past 40 years. Groundbreaking inverter technology has seen SMA make a significant contribution in the transition of solar technology from “pioneering” to the cheapest form of new-build energy. In this pioneering vein, SMA established its operations in Australia in 2007. SMA secured all of the first round of Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) projects and has remained the dominant inverter supplier ever since. Other notable achievements include Australia’s three largest solar farms – Western Down, Darlington Point, Limondale – as well as Australia’s largest hybrid renewable microgrid at the Agnew Gold Mine, which is also the first in the country to incorporate wind on a large scale at a mine site.
The collaboration between SMA’s German team (numbering over 500 staff in research and development alone) and the Australia-based team (upwards of 70 staff) has been key to the success, both of SMA as a supplier and to the renewable energy transition itself. SMA’s central inverters are manufactured entirely in Germany at the facility in Kassel and then integrated with medium-voltage equipment in Australia or Italy. Locally, SMA has always worked closely with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and grid authorities to ensure assets and the wider grid operate as stably as possible.
In just five years, Australia now has up to 6.5GW of solar connected to the NEM.
5 yrs
6.5 GW
SMA Solar Technology AG, through its subsidiary SMA Australia Pty Ltd, has supplied around 65% of those plants.
The future of Australian solar, while challenging, looks bright. On a grand scale, projects such as Sun Cable and the Asian Renewable Energy Hub could see Australia become a global powerhouse in green hydrogen and renewable energy export. On top of this, an ongoing program of coal generator retirements, high gas prices and the global move towards sustainable generation will see continuing growth in renewable assets. With increasing numbers of projects, grid connection is getting more difficult as more plants try to secure connection to fewer available connection points. The strength and stability of the grid will continue to be an issue, and technology providers will have to get smarter to adapt. SMA continues to develop solutions including integrated storage, grid-forming inverters and engineering services.
Despite policy instability, grid complexities, EPC Power Corporation failures and competitors abandoning the market, SMA has remained a constant player in the Australian largescale solar market. This would not have been possible without the cooperation between SMA’s German and Australian teams. SMA continues to strive to create independence in the supply of green energy using decentralised renewable energy in a connected world.
SMA manufacturing facility in Germany.
SMA manufacturing facility in Germany.
SMA delivered the PV and battery inverters with advanced voltage source control for EDL’s Agnew Hybrid Renewable Project at Gold Fields’Agnew Gold Mine in Australia. Solar
About us
SMA is a leading global specialist in photovoltaic system technology committed to setting the standards today for the decentralised and renewable energy supply of tomorrow. Headquartered in Germany, SMA established the Australian subsidiary over 20 years ago. SMA offers solutions for centralised and decentralised PV power plants as well as for residential PV applications and PV hybrid projects in over 190 countries across the globe.
