Construction starts on large battery project next to Australia’s biggest solar farm

Construction of the first large-scale battery energy storage system in the New England region of New South Wales has begun, next to the 720MW New England solar project, which remains the biggest solar project in the country.

The Philippine-controlled Acen Australia says the 200 MW, 400 MWh battery will be built over two stages by energy storage company Energy Vault, one of several major contract wins for the California-based and Swiss-domiciled company.

A total of 1,400MW/2,800MWh storage capacity has received planning approval for the New England project with the option to “be scaled up in the future to provide additional energy storage and ancillary services.” However, Acen Australia will wait until this first battery system is operational before determining how to proceed next.

Once completed, the initial 200MW/400MWh battery system will be able to provide energy on demand to customers in both New South Wales and Queensland. Advanced grid-forming inverters will also be integrated into the system to provide system strength, stability, and network services.

“There’s a lot of attention worldwide on the battery storage market in Australia and so we’re very happy to be making a positive contribution here on such an important project,” said Lucas Sadler, Energy Vault vice president of sales for Asia.

“We will be using lithium-ion technology, coupled with a special inverter which means we can add advanced grid support functionalities such as voltage and frequency ridethrough, grid support during disturbances, and reactive power control.”

Energy Vault, which is also developing a gravity storage technology, has also won contract a contract to build and operate the 100 MW/200 MWh battery next to the Horsham solar farm in Victoria, and also has deals for early stage battery projects at Stoney Creek and Meadow Creek.

The battery system also requires an expanded switching yard to connect to Transgrid’s transmission network. Civil work is expected to be completed and commissioned by the middle of the year, while the first of the battery modules are expected to be delivered to the site in the second half of the year.

A 250 MVA electrical transformer, weighing in at 261 tonnes, is scheduled to be trucked to site in March to support the battery system, with high voltage connection specialist EPEC contracted to manage the installation and commissioning of the transformer.

The New England solar battery project is being backed by the NSW government’s Emerging Energy Program, a $75 million initiative to assist with the development of large-scale electricity and storage projects.

The solar component – the first 400 MW stage of which is already complete – is also backed by a 20 year underwriting agreement from the NSW state government.

“This is the first large-scale battery storage project to be built in New England, so this is a great milestone for the region and the National Electricity Market,” said Tim Greenaway, Acen Australia’s head of construction and engineering.

“We’ll have workers and contractors on site from Uralla, Tamworth and Armidale. They’ll also be supported by teams from Queensland, South Australia and other parts of NSW.”

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