ACT seeks to create short list for 250MW Canberra Big Battery project

The ACT government has issued an open call for expressions of interest for proposals for its 250MW Big Canberra Battery Project.

The ACT’s coordinator-general for climate action, Sam Engele, wrote to stakeholders on Wednesday advising that the EOI process had been commenced, which will seek to identify a shortlist of potential proponents for the big battery project.

The ACT government is supporting the creation of the 250MW Big Canberra Battery project – that had been an election promise of ACT Labor – that is likely to consist of several smaller batteries distributed across the national capital, with varying levels of storage.

“This first stream of procurement for the Big Canberra Battery project will focus on batteries that are connected to the ACT electricity network and are 10 MW or larger,” Engele’s update said.

The ACT government has previously revealled that it recieved 42 proposals in response to an intial round of market sounding for the project, indicating the singificant interest in potential participants in the project.

“Since February 2021, the Big Canberra Battery Project team has been evaluating options for the 250 megawatt (MW) Big Canberra Battery,” Engele said.

“To ensure that the Big Canberra Battery is developed in accordance with industry capability and electricity market conditions, the ACT Government has combined significant industry consultation with expert advice from the energy sector and other key stakeholders.”

Responses to the EOI will be open until 11 February 2022. The ACT government said participation in the first round of EOIs would be mandatory for all prospective proponents.

Last week, Neoen announced that it had begun construction of its own big battery project in Canberra – which forms part of its commitment to sell power from the first stage of the Goyder Renewables Zone to the ACT.

Neoen said that it had doubled the planned size of the Capital battery, which will now be 100MW/200MWh in capacity and is being constructed close to the Queanbeyan substation on the ACT’s eastern edge.