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Marble Bar Microgrid

Current status, energy mix, organizations, suppliers, equipment, controls, reported specifications, and project updates—with source-level citations.

CoverageDetailed public record
Named organizations8
System facts26
Sources reviewed7
Evidence reviewed2026-07-20

Marble Bar is the Marble Bar component of the two-town Horizon Power solar-diesel project also represented by the `marble-bar-and-nullagine-microgrid` umbrella record. Its original system integrated 302 kW of tracked solar, four 320 kW diesel generators, a 500 kW ABB/Powercorp flywheel, and Microgrid Plus controls in May 2010. Historical case studies reported about 30% annual solar energy, 65% daytime solar, up to 92% instantaneous solar penetration, and a reduction in annual diesel use of roughly 405,000 litres. The system has since entered a modernization phase: a central BESS was commissioned in 2021, and a current engineering case study identifies the original flywheel and PLC/control assets as end-of-life or unsupported.

Research status
Operating Horizon Power town system with ongoing storage and controls modernization. The 2021 BESS is commissioned and the central solar plant remains active, producing more than 1 GWh per year according to Horizon Power. The original PowerStore flywheel should not be presented as current: it is explicitly described as end-of-life in the replacement project. Public sources reviewed do not disclose the replacement BESS rating, chemistry, exact commissioning configuration, or current renewable fraction.
Historical classification
Commercial & demonstration
Reported capacity
See component specifications
Coordinates
-21.17143, 119.74352
Evidence note: “Every company” cannot be proven from public material alone. This page lists every organization found in the recovered record and reviewed sources, preserves unknown roles, and explicitly marks undisclosed controller or equipment details.
Report missing evidenceResearch methodology

Project delivery

Who was involved in Marble Bar Microgrid?

8 publicly identified organizations. Where a recovered source named a participant without explaining its work, the role remains explicitly unspecified.

Organization

ABB

Supplier/support organization for the original PowerStore flywheel and Microgrid Plus controls. [5][7]

Organization

Australian Control Engineering

Engineering contractor for generator-control, storage-replacement, RTU/IT, and SCADA modernization work. [7]

Organization

Australian Government Remote Renewable Power Generation Program

Capital grant program [3]

Organization

Government of Western Australia

Government project participant [2]

Organization

Horizon Power

Owner/operator of the Marble Bar power system and developer of both the original hybrid plant and later BESS project. [4][6]

Organization

Hybrid Systems Australia

Supplied and installed the central BESS commissioned in 2021. [6]

Organization

Powercorp

Original storage, civil works, control, and integration provider; its technology later became part of ABB's offering. [5]

Organization

SunPower Australia

Original solar-array supplier/contractor for the tracked PV plant. [4]

System evidence

Energy mix, capacity, and specifications

Values can describe different project phases, generation sources, storage systems, or other components. Source citations are attached to each figure so discrepancies remain visible.

KW Solar
300 [1]
KW Gas/Diesel
1280 [1]
Storage
500 kW Flywheel [1]
Diesel generation
4 × 320 kW (1.28 MW total) [2][3]
Solar PV
300–302 kW tracked array [2][3]
Flywheel
500 kW ABB PowerStore [2][3]
Solar capacity
302 kW in the detailed ARENA case study, often rounded to 300 kW in supplier literature. [4][5]
Diesel capacity
1.28 MW from 4 x 320 kW generator sets in the original configuration. [4]
Original flywheel
500 kW PowerStore rated at 16.5 MW-seconds; subsequently reported end-of-life and subject to replacement. [5][7]
Replacement battery storage
Central BESS commissioned in 2021. Horizon Power did not disclose power, energy, duration, chemistry, inverter, or cell manufacturer in the announcement reviewed. [6]
Historical energy mix
About 30% annual solar and 65% daytime solar, with peak instantaneous solar contribution up to 92%, in the original operating case study. [4]
Historical fuel and emissions savings
Approximately 405,000 litres of diesel and 1,100 tonnes of CO2 per year in ABB's historical case study. [5]
Current central-solar output and hosting benefit
Horizon Power reported central solar generation above 1 GWh per year and more than 100 kW of additional rooftop-PV hosting enabled by the 2021 BESS. [6]

Controls and hardware

Equipment and controller details

Manufacturer and model are shown only when a source names them. Generic descriptions are not converted into guessed product assignments.

01

Microgrid control system

ABB — Microgrid Plus

Coordinates the PV, diesel generators, and grid-stabilizing flywheel. [2]

02

Flywheel grid stabilization

ABB — PowerStore

500 kW flywheel used for power quality and system stability. [2][3]

03

Photovoltaic array

SunPower

Single-axis/tracked ground-mounted array, published as 302 kW in the detailed case study. [4]

04

Flywheel storage

ABB / Powercorp — PowerStore

Original 500 kW, 16.5 MW-second high-power flywheel; now end-of-life according to the modernization case study. [5][7]

05

Microgrid controller

ABB / Powercorp — Microgrid Plus

Original controller coordinating diesel generation, tracked PV, and flywheel response. [5]

06

Battery energy storage

Hybrid Systems Australia

Replacement/modernization BESS commissioned in 2021; nameplate and component manufacturers were not disclosed. [6]

07

Controls and communications upgrade

Australian Control Engineering

Generator-control replacement, energy-storage replacement integration, and RTU, IT, and SCADA upgrades prompted by obsolete PLC hardware and end-of-life storage. [7]

Technical record

Architecture, performance, and project updates

Concise technical facts, milestones, operating results, and later developments. Dated notes distinguish historical design claims from current evidence.

  • Generation

    PV, diesel, storage [1]

  • Duplicate relationship

    This is not separate from the Marble Bar portion of `marble-bar-and-nullagine-microgrid`; the umbrella record additionally includes Nullagine. [4]

  • Commissioning and cost

    The integrated solar-diesel-flywheel system was commissioned in May 2010. ARENA reports an original project cost of about A$16 million. [4]

  • Reliability outcome

    Annual outage duration fell from 38 minutes in 2009-10 to 8 minutes in 2010-11 in the historical case-study comparison. [4]

  • Architecture evolution

    The original flywheel supplied short-duration grid support while PV displaced diesel. The current project replaces obsolete generator/control/storage assets and adds conventional battery storage, but public documentation does not reveal the finalized one-line design or BESS ratings. [5][6][7]

  • Current evidence gap

    No recent audited fuel saving, present annual solar percentage, BESS dispatch data, or complete post-upgrade equipment schedule was found through July 2026. [6][7]

Provenance

7 sources

Primary owner, government, university, supplier, and engineering sources are preferred. Archived references preserve claims whose original pages moved or disappeared.

  1. [1]
    Recovered Microgrid Projects record

    Internet Archive · Archived source · captured 2020-07-06

  2. [2]
  3. [3]
    Renewable Energy in the Australian Mining Sector — case study appendix

    Australian Renewable Energy Agency · Primary source

  4. [4]
    Renewable Energy in the Australian Mining Sector - Case Study Appendix

    Australian Renewable Energy Agency / AECOM · Primary source

  5. [5]
  6. [6]
  7. [7]
    Marble Bar Power Plant Control Systems Engineering

    Australian Control Engineering · Primary source

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