Energies Media
Along Queensland’s Wide Bay Highway in the Gympie region, a massive clean energy infrastructure project is taking shape across nearly 1,500 acres.
The Lower Wonga Solar Farm combines a 380-megawatt direct current (MWdc) solar array with an immense 843-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery storage system. It just cleared a crucial milestone toward its 2028 commercial launch by awarding a high-voltage grid connection contract to EPEC Group.
Yet this single development signals something far larger than local power generation. It marks a fundamental turning point in how utility-scale power projects are designed, financed, and deployed.
EPEC Group’s contract spans the full engineering spectrum—design, procurement, construction, testing, and commissioning. The team will build a 275/33kV substation and a 275kV overhead transmission line connecting Lower Wonga directly to the Woolooga Powerlink substation.
This high-voltage linkage dictates when the facility can begin feeding clean electricity into the regional power grid.
Grid connection work represents one of the most complex, time-intensive phases in utility-scale energy delivery.
It demands tight coordination between developers, engineering contractors, and regional transmission operators like Powerlink Queensland. Execution speed on this connection directly determines whether the 2028 deadline holds.
Meanwhile, a joint venture between INTEC Energy Solutions and Gotion Hi-Tech Australia is steering primary solar and battery construction.
Developer Lightsource bp broke ground at the 1,482-acre Lower Wonga site in mid-2026. The project has rapidly advanced through key procurement stages ever since.
In July, US-based GameChange Energy was tapped to supply its Genius Tracker 1P Terrain Following system. The technology minimizes site earthworks while featuring automated hail-stow protection and generation optimization features.
The project also benefits from robust financial backing.
Australia’s Capacity Investment Scheme provides long-term revenue certainty for new generation and storage assets. This support mitigates the revenue volatility that historically made utility-scale projects difficult to finance.
The economic forces driving this hybrid transition are undeniable. Curtailment across Australia’s National Electricity Market surged past 7 terawatt-hours in 2025—a year-over-year spike exceeding 60 percent.
When solar farms are regularly forced to shut down because transmission lines cannot absorb peak daytime generation, standalone solar becomes economically unviable.
Co-located battery storage fundamentally flips that math. An integrated battery captures surplus solar power that would otherwise be wasted. It then dispatches that energy hours later during evening demand surges when power prices peak.
Rapidly declining battery costs have made adding storage remarkably cost-effective, turning hybrid plants into the new standard.
Lower Wonga represents a deliberate corporate repositioning for Lightsource bp across its global energy portfolio.
In early 2026, the company sold a 1-gigawatt portfolio of five operational standalone solar farms to Aula Energy. Leadership confirmed that the divestment was intended to free up capital for energy assets paired directly with battery storage.
A similar strategy is unfolding at the Goulburn River Solar Farm in New South Wales. That development pairs 450 megawatts of solar capacity with a 392-megawatt-hour battery system.
Standalone solar projects are being phased out in favor of fully integrated storage arrays from day one.
Lower Wonga’s scheduled 2028 launch puts it at the forefront of a wave of hybrid mega-projects reshaping modern grid architecture.
Yet the true strategic hook driving this 1,482-acre facility extends beyond balancing public utility grids.
Lightsource bp secured a landmark hybrid off-take contract directly with global mining titan Rio Tinto.
Rather than merely dumping excess solar onto the open market, this 843-megawatt-hour battery cluster is engineered to directly feed Rio Tinto’s energy-intensive Queensland mining and smelting operations around the clock.
This reveals the ultimate future of industrial decarbonization: coupling massive solar arrays with utility-scale batteries to power heavy industry with zero-carbon energy 24 hours a day.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.

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