Another big battery joins South Australia pipeline in race to energy storage

Yet another big battery has joined the development pipeline in South Australia, with the unveiling of a 220MWh project proposed for construction in Mannum, east of Adelaide.

Australian outfit Epic Energy says the $130 million, standalone project will be built adjacent to the company’s two solar farms at Mannum and will use the lithium-iron phosphate battery technology of Canadian Solar subsidiary, e-Storage.

Epic Energy’s 30MW(AC) Mannum 2 solar farm began construction last year alongside a smaller 6.8MW(AC) facility that was already in operation. The stage 2 project, which is currently in the commissioning phase, will help power a Gawler glass manufacturing facility owned by Orora.

Clive D’Cruz, Epic Energy’s CEO, says the battery is a standalone project that will be used to create “much needed energy storage” to manage the excess renewables that flood the state’s grid during the middle of the day.

The company hopes to begin construction of the battery in the second quarter of 2024, with completion slated for the second half of 2025.

“The battery energy storage solution will absorb surplus energy during times of low demand that can then be directed into the grid to help support the consistent supply of renewable electricity to South Australian consumers, and the national grid, in peak periods,” D’Cruz said.

“This solution rounds out our investment at the current Mannum site where we own two solar farms capturing 46 MWp of the Riverland’s saturated sunlight to provide clean energy to industrial customers.”

Canadian Solar launched its own line of large-scale batteries in 2022, called SolBank, and at the end of last year e-Storage launched the latest iteration of the technology, SolBank 3.0. The upgraded system promises up to 45% more capacity and a 40% decrease in commissioning time compared to SolBank 2.0.

The SolBank has also been tapped for the first Australian battery project of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners; a 240MW, two hour (480MWh) battery at Summerfield – also in South Australia.

Epic Energy, which also owns and operates a gas pipeline network spanning 1,200km across South Australia, says it is investing is investing in a portfolio of renewables assets for its customers, ranging from wind and solar to microgrids and standalone storage.

The company has also been selected by the Office of Hydrogen Power South Australia to progress the Early Contractor Involvement phase of the states Hydrogen Jobs Plan, with a focus on development of a dual-purpose renewable hydrogen storage and transmission pipeline.

“We are committed to leveraging our expertise to embrace new energy directions that support Australia’s energy transition,” D’Cruz said.