Australian state fast tracks 700 MWh battery project approval

Australian developer ACEnergy’s 350 MW/700 MWh Little River BESS has been given the green light from the government of Victoria’s Development Facilitation Program (DFP).

The AUD 350 million ($224 million) project, being developed near the town of Little River about 45 km southwest of Melbourne, will be one of the state’s largest BESS if it goes ahead and will “support Victoria’s clean energy transition.”

ACEnergy said the battery will connect directly to the existing 220 kV network infrastructure and will be able to provide critical grid services, such as frequency regulation and peak load management.

“By providing a reliable and flexible storage solution, it will help balance supply and demand, integrating more renewable energy into the grid and reducing reliance on fossil fuels,” the company says on its website.

ACEnergy said the project has recently received a connection offer from the Australian Energy Market Operator and is progressing well with the connection works. Construction of the project is scheduled to commence within the next 12 months.

The project is expected to generate 55 jobs during construction while ACEnergy has committed to delivering several community-oriented programs, including AUD 1.5 million in investments in the local community over a 20-year period.

ACEnergy Head of Development Danny Wilkinson said the company is determined that the project will deliver more than just power to the community.

“We are confident that the 350 MW BESS will provide tremendous value toward energy stability in the region,” he said. “However, it remains our priority to ensure that the residents of Little River feel that they are part of this project, and that it delivers more than just energy for them.”

“Throughout the consultation period, we have engaged with the local community and ensured that they have been heard, which has led to a more robust and beneficial project that will deliver real benefits to the region.”

The project’s approval comes after the Victorian government opened up the DFP approvals pathway last year to include renewable energy developments.

Developers and industry bodies have criticised state governments for the effects of red tape on planning approvals but under this change, all new renewables projects in Victoria are treated as significant economic development and from the time a complete application is lodged for one of these projects, decisions can be made within four months.

The state government said prior to the introduction of the fast-tracked pathway, more than one in five renewable energy project applications ended up mired in the approvals process, often delaying them by two years.

Victorian Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said the new approvals pathway is playing a key role in achieving the state’s energy storage targets of connecting at least 2.6 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3 GW by 2035. This target complements its renewable energy generation target that aims to have 95% renewable energy in the energy mix by 2035.

“Renewable energy is the cheapest form of new build energy available, that’s exactly why we’re fast-tracking decisions on projects like this,” she said.

The Little River project is the second of ACEnergy’s battery developments to benefit from the DFP, with the company’s 350 MW/700 MWh Joel Joel project being developed in the Wimmera region also approved under the streamlined planning process.

The two projects are part of the Melbourne-headquartered company’s growing portfolio that includes the 400 MW/1.6 GWh Gara and 250 MW/1 GWh Yanco battery projects planned for New South Wales, and the 500 MW/1 GWh Central BESS proposed for Queensland.

ACEnergy has also teamed with energy infrastructure asset owner and manager Sustainable Energy Infrastructure to develop a portfolio of distributed BESS across regional Australia as part of a multi-stage program that will deliver a combined capacity of 135 MW/270 MWh.

From pv magazine Australia.