Spark Renewables has proposed a 2.5 GW wind, solar and battery energy storage complex near Jerilderie, in the Australian state of New South Wales. $1.3 billion will be spent on the first 1 GW tranche, then a further $1.8 billion on the 1.5 GW follow-up. The first phase should be commissioned in 2025. New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia together make up two-thirds of Australia’s population. Because Australia is so large, with a population of only 25.5 million, the cost of the transmission grid is magnified far beyond what a normal country has to account for, the more so when integrating intermittent energy sources. As the power grid shifts from coal to renewables, the region connecting the three states…