Powercor switches on Australia’s biggest grid-scale battery storage

Victoria network operator Powercor on Wednesday switched on Australia’s largest grid-scale battery storage installation south of Ballarat, where it will provide 3,000 customers with up to one hour of back-up power during a power outage.

The 2MW battery storage facility is the first of its kind to be directly connected to a grid in Australia. Housed in a 40-foot shipping container, it was officially switched on by Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, although it won’t be “fully operational” until mid year.

powercor

Powercor said the $8 million system, built in South Korea, would be used to test how a grid-scale battery installed on the right part of the network can help reduce stress on the network, improve reliability of supply and reduce maintenance costs.

The system is located on a “rural long feeder”  in Buninyong, south of Ballarat, and could help defer network upgrades and meet peak capacity needs.

“The project will allow us to determine if using the installation of grid-scale batteries on the network will successfully increase capacity temporarily during peak demand periods,” said Steven Neave, General Manager of Electricity Networks, Powercor Australia.

“This is a fantastic piece of new technology, and I commend Powercor for their vision in looking at a very innovative battery storage technology that will actually increase the reliability of the electricity supply,” D’Ambrosio told media at the launch.

“It’s a fantastic outcome for consumers in this part of Victoria …this is the way of the future and I’m really excited to see that Powercor … is looking at those new battery storage technologies as an alternative to the traditional methods of upgrading powerlines, to not only improve reliability of electricity but also the capacity of electricity that is being supplied through the grid.

“We know that electricity demand is increasing, especially during the very hot summer months, when people turn on their air conditioners to stay comfortable and it so important that at those particular times that we have the additional capacity that is now going to be stored in these battery devices.”

D’Ambrosio said the government would keep a watch on how battery storage technology could be applied at grid and household level.

She noted that households can now “make their own energy through rooftop solar” and store that renewable energy for use it at a different time of the day or night when they most need it.

“This is a fantastic new age of the way electricity is used – the way it is produced, and the way it is used the way it is stored,” the minister said.

“We are going to see some massive transformation of the way all of us relate to energy in the coming years and I’m very excited that in Victoria we’ve got leading businesses such as Powercor that are starting to think about the role of battery storage and the role it can play in our energy future.”

Comments

4 responses to “Powercor switches on Australia’s biggest grid-scale battery storage”

  1. D. John Hunwick Avatar
    D. John Hunwick

    BRILLIANT I can’t wait to hear how the technology performs. This is the start of the real change our power supply needs at the regional level.

  2. john Avatar
    john

    I note that the battery has been installed on “rural long feeder”, this of course would be a logical place to mitigate transmission loss, improve reliability and maintain voltage levels.
    The savings for the supplier having to pay consumers for damage caused by loss of power and voltage drop both to equipment and food storage should be obvious.
    There is undoubtedly a large number of single rural feeder situations in the country that should be augmented both with battery and RE supply systems.

  3. Joe Taranto Avatar
    Joe Taranto

    Brilliant technology but I ask can all the Australian people afford to buy the above technology?

    1. juxx0r Avatar
      juxx0r

      Yes, whilst this might be the first of it’s kind, we have 20 million of them on backorder.

Get up to 3 quotes from pre-vetted solar (and battery) installers.