Australia’s biggest battery officially opened, 12 months after contract awarded

The Victorian Big Battery, the biggest battery storage installation in Australia, and one of the biggest in the world, has been officially opened and is now operating at full capacity, just 12 months after being awarded its landmark contract.

The 300MW/450MWh facility, which will play a key role in keeping the lights on in Victoria, particularly in high demand periods in summer, was officially opened on Wednesday by its owners Neoen and state energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio.

The project was completed on time despite a set back in late July when – during initial testing – fire broke out in one of the more than 200 Tesla Megapack containers and spread to another container. Construction continued but testing was delayed as the cause of the fire was investigated.

“We are extremely proud to have delivered the largest battery in Australia in record time,” said Louis de Sambucy, the head of Neoen Australia. “It’s quite an achievement.

“I would like to thank everyone who has worked tirelessly to make this happen; our partners at Tesla and AusNet, UGL and Downer, as well as AEMO and the Victorian Government.”

The Victorian Big Battery, or VBB, is one of a number of big battery projects operated by Neoen on Australia’s main grid, including the expanded 150MW/192MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve (originally dubbed the Tesla big battery) in South Australia, and the smaller 20MW/32MWh battery at the Bulgana Energy Hub.

See RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia

Neoen is also proposing even bigger batteries at a number of different locations, including next to the Western Downs solar farm in Queensland, near Lithgow in NSW, and at Goyder South, Crystal Brook, and – more recently – at Blyth in South Australia.

De Sambucy told RenewEconomy that it was Neoen’s goal to have a big battery in every mainland state on the National Electricity Market.

The VBB will have multiple functions, representing the versatility of battery storage in shifting the output of wind and solar, providing key grid services, and – under a ground-breaking 10-year contract – allowing the Australian Energy Market Operator to increase the flows on the main link from NSW to Victoria.

“AEMO’s partnership with the Victorian Government and Neoen has delivered one of the world’s largest batteries, which will enable a more reliable and secure electricity supply for Victorian consumers,” AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman said in a statement.

That deal will reserve 250MW/125MWh of its capacity during the summer period. The SIPS (System Integrity Protection Scheme), as it is called, was activated at 1143 AEDT on Tuesday, and will normally operate from November 1 to March 31 each year..

But of greater interest will be the impact of a battery of this size on the wholesale electricity and frequency control markets. De Sambucy said Neoen was looking at adding additional network and grid services that could be provided.

“It’s a bit early to draw definitive conclusions, but in the commissioning period we were able to test the battery at full capacity, and we think it will have a major impact, particularly on the FCAS market,” he told RenewEconomy in an interview on Wednesday.

D’Ambrosio said the battery will play a key role in the state’s legislated target of reaching 50 per cent renewables by 2030, and net zero by 2050.

“The Victorian Government is proud to flick the switch on Australia’s biggest battery which will help protect our network in summer, support our renewable revolution, and slash energy prices,” she said.

De Sambucy acknowledged the problems caused by the fire in the battery containers, and said all recommendations from the inquiry had been implemented. He said because of these actions it would be “impossible” for such an incident to be repeated.

See also: Big Battery Storage Map of Australia

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