Aurora solar thermal, PV and battery project steams ahead with new investor

Plans to combine a big battery with large-scale solar PV and solar thermal technology in South Australia have gained new momentum, with the 1414 Degrees-led Aurora Energy Project winning state development approval, new federal funding, and the backing of a major new private investor.

1414 Degrees, or 14D, says it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Jemena subsidiary, Ovida, to collaborate on the Port Augusta project, with a view to Ovida potentially taking a share in the energy hub.

The execution of the MoU includes an initial payment of $300,000 from Ovida, and the initial focus of the collaboration will be the development of a 140MW/140MWh battery energy storage system, with a final investment decision targeted in late 2022.

The partnership with Ovida comes just under one month after 14D received state development approval for a BESS up to 140MW/280 MWh, a 70MW solar array, and 150MW of concentrated solar power (CSP).

As RenewEconomy has reported, 14D picked up the abandoned Aurora Solar Tower Project in late 2019 as part of a deal to acquire the Australian assets of the failed US solar tower developer, SolarReserve.

At that time, the project had development approval for a 150MW concentrated solar thermal plant and a 70MW solar PV plant.

14D has also proposed to use the site to pilot its silicon-based thermal energy storage system, or TESS-GRID technology, which it says can deliver electricity firming services to similar scale as the solar power tower project (135MW of effective capacity and eight hours of storage).

That part of the project was boosted in mid-November by a $2.2 million grant from the federal government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI), to accelerate the commercialisation of 14D’s SiBox thermal energy storage technology.

In a statement issued at the time, 14D said the grant would be used to support the construction, commissioning and testing of a circa 1MWh SiBox demonstration module validation project, with works set to begin in 2022.

The grant was also expected to be used to fund commercialisation activities including market research and “technoeconomic evaluation” of brown-field integration opportunities for SiBox.

Now, the Aurora Energy Project also has the early backing of Ovida – which in turn has the heft of its parent company behind it, including more than $11 billion of energy infrastructure assets under management and approximately 2,500 employees.

“Jemena Group is one of Australia’s largest owners and operators of energy infrastructure with a track record of project delivery,” said Matt Squire, 14D CEO.

“Having a partner with their technical and financial capability will accelerate not just [the Aurora Energy Project’s] development but also its construction and operation.

“Aurora is an excellent site for establishing a long-term dispatchable renewable energy power generation facility, which will increasingly be in demand as efforts to decarbonise accelerate and coal power stations close down in the NEM,” Squire said.

“Following on from our announcement in October regarding our SiBox technology project in collaboration with Woodside, 1414 Degrees is now well positioned with high calibre prospective partners for both of its core renewable energy activities.”

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