Developer wants to add huge 2,000 MWh, eight-hour battery to approved Hunter Valley wind project

Ark Energy, the local renewables offshoot of massive South Korea industrial giant Korean Zinc, has announced plans to add a 2,000 MWh, eight-hour battery to its proposed Bowmans Creek wind project in the Hunter Valley.

The decision was announced to local stakeholders in a project newsletter last week, and the application has been filed with the NSW planning department because it requires a modification to the original development approval.

“A BESS (battery energy storage system) allows for storage of excess energy generated during peak production for later use during low production periods or high demand, improving reliability and reducing energy costs,” Ark Energy says in the newsletter.

“The BESS would have a power capacity of up to 250 megawatts (MW) and storage capacity of up to 2,000 MWh over eight hours.”

The move confirms the shift towards longer duration battery storage in the last year or two. The first eight-hour batteries – none have actually been completed yet – were contracted through the state government’s long duration storage auction held as part of its infrastructure plan to co-ordinate the shift from coal.

Three were contracted as part of that process, but now other renewable energy and storage developers are also looking at eight-hour storage batteries, often to create true “hybrid” facilities that share a connection point and allow solar and wind farms to continue producing, even when wholesale prices fall below zero.

The output in these cases is stored in the batteries, and then sold when demand and prices are higher. Clearly this form of arbitrage is now being seen as economic, helped along by the falling costs of battery storage itself, and the intense volatility in the Australian market.

The initial 335 MW stage of the Bowmans Creel wind project – located near Muswellbrook in the heart of the Hunter Valley’s coal region, was approved last year, but Ark Energy has already flagged its intention to make it bigger.

Ark Energy is also seeking approval for a 120 MW extension to the Bowmans Creek project and wants to add another 21 turbines on land in the centres of the project area. Ark Energy anticipates lodging the DA and EIS for Stage 2 of the wind farm in 2026.

If you wish to support independent media, and accurate information, please consider making a one off donation or becoming a regular supporter of Renew Economy. Your support is invaluable.