FRV to build two grid forming battery storage projects in Victoria

Fotowatio Renewable Ventures Australia owned by a Saudi investment fund and a Canadian infrastructure fund, is to build a second big battery with grid forming inverters in Victoria after winning a role in the federal funding round.

The 250MW/500MWh Gnarwarre battery energy storage system will be located in Gnarwarre, south west, Victoria, not far from the 100MW/200MWh Terang battery that won funding from the state government, also to help with grid forming inverters.

This technology is seen as crucial to help bridge the gap between traditional synchronous generation and inverter based technologies used in wind, solar and battery storage. The “grid forming” capacity means they can mimic many of the critical grid services provided by coal, gas and hydro generators.

FRV bought the Gnarwarre project from Ace Energy in 2021, around the same time as it bought Terang from the same developer. Gnarwarre will be FRV’s biggest standalone battery in Australia and will join its suite of nine solar farms with more than 800MW (dc) of operating capacity.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is spending $167 million to support eight big battery projects with grid forming inverters, although it has not broken down the individual allocation.

ARENA CEO Darren Miller said that big battery projects now only required a minimum amount of funding support, compared to its first investments in the technology.

“When ARENA first started supporting batteries like this about five years ago, we had to provide up to 60 per cent of the capital value in grant, and what we can see today is the industry maturing as ARENA’s grant is below 10 per cent of the value of these projects,” he said.

FRV CEO Carlo Frigerio said the funding “brings back good memories of almost a decade ago” when FRV received support from ARENA to build the 56MW Moree solar farm (pictured above).

This was one of the first operating large-scale solar farms in the country, the first with tracking technology. “Since then, we continued to play a key role in the country’s renewable energy transition,” Frigerio said.

“Battery storage is an essential technology in the transition to renewable energy, allowing us smooth out variable generation and store electricity for when it’s needed.”

(Update: In a later statement, the CEFC said it has provided $100 million in concessional finance to a new FRV solar project, the 300MW Walla Walla solar farm).

Fady Jameel, deputy chairman and vice chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel, which owns 51 per cent of FRV, said Australia continues to be a key and promising market for renewable energy investments.

“This project illustrates how battery energy storage is an increasingly viable options towards a more sustainable future for all, which we are proud to be leading in.”

Omers, one of Canada’s largest defined benefit pension plans, owns a 49 per cent stake in FRV, which expects to invest more than US$ 1.5 billion to double its global installed capacity from 2GW in 2021 to 4GW in 2024.

See RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia

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