Renewables are set to power the production of fossil fuels.
Oil and gas company Santos plans to convert 56 crude oil pumps at wells in the Cooper Basin to solar and battery power. The $16 million project is supported with $4.6 million from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and follows on from a successful Australian first pilot installation.
According to ARENA, the scale of the trial will allow suppliers of the technology to reduce unit costs, a next step towards commercialising the technology.
The project will install 3.2 megawatt solar power and corresponding batteries to supply each site with 100% renewable energy.
If successful, Santos will look to convert an additional 151 pumps across the Cooper Basin to solar and batteries, which then would save 140 barrels of oil a day currently used to fuel the pumps.
ARENA says that the project could see increased confidence that renewable energy can provide the reliability required for resources applications and see other companies follow suit.