en.Wedoany.com Reported - Australian retailer AGL Energy will provide a solar and battery microgrid for Koompartu Farms in the Riverland region of South Australia, a project described as "one of Australia's largest private non-mining microgrids."
The system will cover 15 hectares of the Koompartu property near Monash, approximately 10 kilometers northwest of Berri, and is designed to meet the farm's 6.7MW energy demand. Equipment configuration includes a 9.2MWp single-axis tracking solar array (with over 15,600 panels), a 10.2MWh battery energy storage system (BESS, comprising four 2.55MWh units), 16 diesel backup generators, and 19 kilometers of underground high-voltage transmission lines.
The project will connect to the SA Power Networks distribution grid at 11kV, with solar generation supplementing grid supply when grid capacity cannot meet the site's peak demand. Koompartu Farms is South Australia's largest almond orchard, and the project will be built for RRG Capital Management, a US private equity fund that began developing almond investments in South Australia in 2023, with over 2,500 hectares under cultivation.
AGL has structured this project as a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), under which AGL will build, own, operate, and maintain the assets and supply power to Koompartu Farms, allowing the orchard management team to focus on agricultural operations rather than energy infrastructure. Brendan Weinart, General Manager of Sustainable Business Energy Solutions at AGL, said the project demonstrates how tailored microgrid solutions can meet the energy reliability needs of large agricultural enterprises. "This is a first-of-its-kind project designed to improve local grid capacity and provide the reliability needed to operate critical irrigation systems," Weinart said. With diesel generator usage expected to decrease by 88%, the project showcases the role of customized microgrid solutions in helping businesses reduce emissions and enhance resilience.
The Koompartu project is the largest in a series of agricultural microgrids AGL is delivering in South Australia and New South Wales (NSW). In May 2024, AGL completed a 4.8MW solar and 4.2MWh battery microgrid for Australian Farming Services at Cadell Orchards in the Riverina region of NSW, reducing diesel dependence by 85% and cutting orchard carbon emissions by up to 4,700 tonnes annually. AGL is also developing a 6.5MW solar and 5.1MWh battery energy storage system at the nearby Canally Almond Orchard, using the same long-term PPA model.
The Koompartu system is significantly larger than previous projects, and the 19-kilometer underground high-voltage grid spanning the 9,340-hectare property reflects the infrastructure complexity required to power a site of this scale from distributed generation. Substation work was completed by TGOOD Australia, which supplied 11 interconnected substation cabinets with a unique configuration to manage load flow across the entire site.
The microgrid will be part of a broader wave of distributed energy infrastructure development, serving commercial and industrial customers who cannot easily access grid-scale renewables through traditional connections. In 2023, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) supported microgrid deployment in Australia through targeted funding, recognizing that remote and semi-remote operations face grid access limitations, making behind-the-meter generation and storage the most commercially viable pathway to decarbonization. This model is also being deployed outside agriculture, with ARENA-funded support for remote community and bushfire-resilient microgrids. EDP recently received AUD 3 million (USD 2 million) in funding to build a bushfire-resilient microgrid, demonstrating how solar, battery storage, and backup generation can be combined to maintain power supply during emergencies when grid connections are disrupted.
