RWE opens 50 MW/400 MWh long-duration battery in Australia
A ribbon-cutting ceremony this week celebrated the official opening of the Limondale battery energy storage system (BESS), attended by the BESS owner and operator Germany-headquartered developer RWE Renewables Australia, project partners and the New South Wales (NSW) government representatives.
NSW Minister for Climate Change and Energy Penny Sharpe said batteries like Limondale mean the state won’t waste an electron of solar and can power the state with renewables. “It’s exciting to cut the ribbon on this Australian-first battery, which will get more renewable energy into the grid, placing downward pressure on bills,” Sharpe said.
Located near Balranald in southwest NSW, 854 kilometres southwest of Sydney, the Limondale BESS was the first project awarded a long-term energy service agreement (LTESA) for long-duration storage under the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap (EIR).
The system’s 144 containerized, utility-scale lithium-ion, custom-configured Tesla Megapacks have a total storage capacity of at least 400 MWh, with the ability to provide energy for over eight hours, making it the longest-duration battery operating in Australia.
The Megapacks were delivered to Limondale pre-assembled from Tesla’s Californian Gigafactory, and Tesla states each single Megapack unit provides approximately 3.9 to 4.3 MWh of standalone storage.
They use grid-forming inverters and create their own stable voltage signal instead of tracking the existing grid frequency.
The asymmetrical charge/discharge system can draw power from the grid, or the adjacent 314 MW Limondale Solar Farm, at 100 MW for rapid charging but discharges at a capped rate of 50 MW.
Limondale was developed by RWE Renewables Australia with support from US-headquartered Tesla, Melbourne-headquartered clean energy company Beon Energy Solutions and Australian transmission companies Lumea and Transgrid.
During the ceremony RWE Renewables Australia Chief Executive Officer Daniel Belton thanked the RWE team, project partners, the NSW government, and ASL, “for their outstanding collaboration and commitment in safely bringing this ground-breaking project to completion.”
“We are incredibly proud to deliver the Limondale BESS. As one of Australia’s most significant battery storage projects, it represents a major step forward for long-duration energy storage and contributes to a more reliable, resilient, and sustainable energy system,” Belton said.
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