Ausgrid plans two $20 million Tesla batteries in New South Wales

Sydney-headquartered electricity distribution network service provider Ausgrid is planning two AUD30 million BESS, in Newcastle and Sydney, both in the state of NSW.

Ausgrid said the projects would supply electricity to Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) during peak demand periods and store excess electricity during times of low demand.

Newcastle

In the coastal city of Newcastle, the Steel River East BESS, comprising 200 MW/400 MWH of Tesla Megapack 2XL lithium-ion battery units, would be located in Mayfield West, 7 km from the Newcastle central business district and would connect to the grid via a 33 kV underground cable to Ausgrid’s Mayfield West 132 kV/11 kV zone substation.

The project would be a state significant development and would thus have a different approval process from other types of infrastructure.

Both the Ausgrid Newcastle and Sydney BESS will utilize Tesla Megapack 2XL lithium-ion battery units. *Image: Tesla*

Each Megapack unit would include battery modules, a bi-directional inverter thermal management system, and a pre-installed alternating-current main breaker which can store 15.6 MWh of energy and provide 3.9 MW of power with round-trip efficiency of 87% and an operational life of 50 years.

Proprietary optimization software, included in the Megapack, learns and predicts local energy patterns, offering autonomous charge and discharge and seamless supervisory control and data acquisition integration and fast response controls can integrate co-located renewable energy generation and enable market participation.

The Steel River BESS would be a minute away from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization Energy Centre and the National Solar Energy Centre, where research is conducted on solar thermal and photovoltaic technology. Those sites are powered by more than 300 kW of renewable energy infrastructure onsite, generating more than 500 MWh of electricity per year.

Sydney

The Homebush BESS, 15 km west of Sydney’s central business district, would also be a state significant development and would include the existing 132 kV Mason Park sub-transmission switching station.

The 200 MW/400 MWh Homebush BESS would connect to the switching station via a 33 kV underground connection and generate enough energy to power 27,000 homes a day in the Sydney suburb.

The BESS would also utilise the Tesla Megapack 2XL lithium-ion battery units.

A scoping report for that project said any alternative site would likely be more costly and have higher community and environmental impact, given the existing network capacity and adjacent land holdings at the location identified.

“The ‘do nothing’ option would not meet the objectives of the project or the demands on the NEM and is therefore not considered a feasible option,” the report stated.

The proposed site of Ausgrid’s Homebush BESS, adjacent to an existing substation. *Image: Ausgrid*

Applications for both projects are currently with the NSW government planning department and community engagement is underway.

Ausgrid is the largest distributor of electricity on Australia’s east coast, providing power to 1.8 million customers through a network made up of substations, power lines, underground cables and power poles covering 22,275 km² throughout Sydney, the Central Coast and the Hunter Valley.

From pv magazine Australia.