Giant Canberra battery gets approval to help wean national capital off fossil gas

A giant battery project that will help get the national capital get off gas and reach its target of net zero by 2045 has won development approval and is expected to begin construction later this year.

The 250 MW, 500 MWh Williamsdale battery – part of what is known as the Big Canberra Battery – is being built on the outskirts of the national capital.

The ACT has already reached 100 per cent net renewables through a series of contracts with wind and solar farms, but is contracting more renewable energy projects and a series of big battery projects to support the electrification of transport and homes, which will require more grid power.

The ACT has the highest uptake of electric vehicles in the country, running at more than 20 per cent of new car sales, and has banned the installation of gas networks in new housing developments and is working to wean existing homes off fossil gas appliances.

Two big batteries have already been built in Canberrans – the 10MW/20MWh Queenbeyan battery owned by GPG is already operating, while the 100MW/200MWh Capital battery owned by Neoen is finally going through its commissioning phase after major delays in obtaining connection approvals.

The Williamsdale battery is being built by Eku Energy, an offshoot of Macquarie Group that has already built the Hazelwood battery in Victoria and is building the Rangebank battery in the same state.

Eku Energy has struck an innovative financing deal with the ACT government for the battery and will receive quarterly payments over 15 years, to provide revenue certainty and help lower the cost of capital, and will share profits from the merchant operations of the battery with the government in return.

“We’ve achieved a new milestone today with the approval of the Development Application for the Williamsdale Battery Energy Storage System,” Eku Energy said in a LinkedIn post on Wednesday.

The Williamsdale Battery is expected to cost between $300 and $400 million. Construction will start in late 2024 with completion expected in 2025.

See RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia