Naturgy to build 290 MW solar, 180 MW/360 MWh battery project in Australia
Naturgy, through its international subsidiary Global Power Generation (GPG), said it will invest more than AUD 490 million to develop a 290 MW (330 MWp) solar farm and 180 MW/360 MWh BESS in Queensland’s Fraser Coast region.
The Fraser Coast solar-plus-battery project is being built on a 555-hectare site near the township of Brooweena. The PV power plant will feature approximately 600,000 solar panels alongside a battery energy storage system sized at 180 MW and 360 MWh.
Naturgy said the Fraser Coast facility is set to become a benchmark project in the Australian market due to its size and hybrid configuration. The company operates in Australia through GPG, which is 25% owned by the Kuwait Investment Authority.
“The plant will integrate PV generation and storage capacity, a combination that will bring greater flexibility to the electricity system and will contribute to optimizing the management of the renewable energy generated,” the company said, adding that hybrid projects such as Fraser Coast are set to play an “increasingly important” role “in a market marked by price volatility and grid restrictions.”
The project is Naturgy’s largest yet in Australia and its second hybrid solar and battery storage project in the country, following on from the Cunderdin complex in Western Australia. Inaugurated in April 2025, the large-scale solar-hybrid power plant was Naturgy’s first hybridization project globally.
Having committed the funding, Naturgy said construction of the Fraser Coast project will now commence with the facility expected to be fully operational in 2028. Once completed, the plant is expected to generate approximately 380 GWh of renewable energy each year.
The project is supported by a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) and while Naturgy company did not disclose the off-taker, it did say the deal will provide long-term revenue visibility for the project.
The investment announcement follows a period of active capacity growth for Naturgy in Australia.
The energy giant last month commissioned the 260 MW Glenellen Solar Farm in New South Wales and the 96 MW Bundaberg Solar Farm in Queensland. Both projects have long-term PPAs in place with telecommunications provider Telstra, which will buy 100% of Bundaberg’s output and 50% of Glenellen’s electricity.
Naturgy’s operational portfolio in Australia now includes 10 assets with a combined capacity of 1.3 GW, including solar, wind and storage projects in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory. The company also has a 2 GW pipeline of projects in development across the country.
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