China solar giant signs 5 gigawatt hour deal focusing on Australian battery storage portfolio

Chinese PV giant Trinasolar says it has signed a deal with the UK-based Pacific Green Group to deliver up to five gigawatt hours of battery systems for its projects in Australia and other international markets.

Pacific Green’s flagship project in Australia is the Limestone Coast battery in South Australia – although it has already sold the first stage to Intera – and it is also looking to develop the massive 1 GW, 2.5 GWh Portland battery in Victoria, near that city’s smelter.

In all, Pacific Green says it has 7 GWh of battery storage projects in Australia and another 4 GWh in Europe, although it has previously claimed its Australian portfolio is 10 GWh.

The partnership agreement signed with Trina appears to be relatively unique as most other big players have chosen battery suppliers on a project by project basis.

Neoen, for instance, mostly uses Tesla but has also used NHOA and Doosan, while Akaysha – now the largest battery project developer following the financing of its new Victoria project – has used both Neoen and the now defunct Powin.

Trinasolar says the memorandum of understanding signed with Pacific Green is for projects to be delivered from 2026 to 2028 and described it as “one of the largest” energy storage collaborations. 

“A 5GWh supply commitment demonstrates the scale and confidence driving our partnership with Pacific Green,” said Helena Li, president of Trinasolar.

Scott Poulter, the CEO of Pacific Green, says the partnership will enable the company to mover forward “efficiently and at scale”, and would accelerate its project development.

Pacific Green had already signed up Trinasolar as supplier for the 250 MW, 500 MWh Limestone Coast North battery, which has been awarded an underwriting deal under the federal government’s Capacity Investment Scheme.

That part of the project was sold to Intera earlier this year for $460 million, although Pacific Green retains responsibility for construction of the project, which is due to be complete in 2027. Pacific Green says it has a number of other as yet unrevealed battery projects in Victoria and NSW.

Trinasolar is also looking to develop its own projects in Australia, including the Kemerton battery in Western Australia, and the Pleystowe battery in Queensland.

You can listen to a recent interview with Pacific Green’s Joel Alexander in this recent episode of Renew Economy’s weekly Energy Insiders podcast: Energy Insiders Podcast: The changing dynamics of battery storage

See also Renew Economy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia for more information.

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