Australian battery projects advance 1.8 GWh of storage capacity

Work is advancing on the installation of two batteries which are due to bring bring 550 MW/1.8 GWh of project capacity to southeastern Australia by mid 2027.

The 200 MW/400 MWh BESS being installed by Philippines-owned energy company Acen next to its New England solar project, in northern NSW, is due for commercial operation next year.

A 350 MW/1.4 GWh BESS planned by Hong Kong-owned utility EnergyAustralia is expected to enter service in mid 2027.

Acen on Monday announced it had started construction of the site for the lithium-ion BESS that US-based Energy Vault will supply for installation next to the 400 MW New England solar farm. The solar site is currently having a second, 350 MW phase installed.

Developer Acen said it has approvals to expand the scale of the BESS, at the site near Uralla, up to 1.4 GW/2.8 GWh.

The battery, which together with the solar project will supply power to customers in NSW and Queensland, will feature grid-forming inverters which will offer “voltage and frequency ride-through, grid support during disturbances, and reactive power control,” to the Transgrid electricity network, according to Lucas Sadler, vice president of sales for Energy Vault in Asia.

Acen said high-voltage construction specialist EPEC will install and commission a 250 MWA, 261-ton electrical transformer which is due to be trucked to the site next month. Lumea is installing an expanded switching yard to connect the BESS and phase two of the solar farm to Transgrid’s network by the middle of the year, and Energy Vault is expected to begin delivering battery modules in the second half of the year.

EnergyAustralia’s 350 MW/1.4 GWh Wooreen BESS is planned next to the utility’s 450 MW Jeeralang gas-fired power station at Hazelwood North, in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. The energy storage system will share infrastructure with the fossil fuel-powered plant.

The project was one of the first six sites to be backed by the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme, which aims to establish 23 GW of renewable energy generation sites and 9 GW of clean dispatchable electricity capacity to help the nation reach a target of having clean energy contribute 82% of electricity by 2030.

The Zenviron joint venture founded by Australian clean energy company Zem Energy and compatriot engineer Monadelphous yesterday announced it has been awarded the contract to design, construct, install, and commission the battery site where construction is due to finish next year, ahead of operations in mid 2027.

EnergyAustralia, which said the Wooreen battery will serve more than 400,000 households, has committed to invest more than AUD 5 billion ($3.17 billion) into up to 3 GW of clean energy and energy storage projects by 2030.

From pv magazine Australia.