Giant transformers arrive at massive battery, as state opposition vows to dump the SEC

Two giant transformers have arrived for installation at the first stage of the 600MW Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub in Victoria, marking a major new milestone at one of the biggest grid-scale batteries in Australia.

With all 444 Tesla Megapacks in place at the MREH, developers said on the weekend that the giant 335 tonne transformers – three, in total – are the final pieces that will connect the battery’s power to the grid and allow it to be pumped at higher voltage.

The 1.6 gigawatt-hour (GWh) battery is significant for more than just its size – it is the first project from the State Electricity Commission’s initial $1 billion investment as part of the newly rebooted SEC’s target of 4.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy generation and storage projects.

The Victorian government-owned SEC in December 2023 announced a deal with renewables developer Equis Australia to collaborate on the funding for the MREH battery project at Melton, on the western outskirts of Melbourne.

The big battery will be made up of three different 200MW components, two of them with two hours of storage and one with fours of storage duration.

A further stage of development, which plans to tap into another three 200MW connection points already approved for the site, could be even bigger because it may include 12-hours of storage delivered by so-called flow batteries.

The project is on track to come online later this year, when it will begin storing excess solar during the day and release it during the evening peak to meet demand and drive down power prices.

Once fully completed, the big battery is also expected to allow 1.8 gigawatts of new renewable energy generation to be added to the Victorian grid. 

Lumea, part of network company Transgrid, is leading works to connect the battery to the grid, including design and construction of the 500kV Plumpton Renewable Terminal Substation and installation of a 1.75km, 500kV underground cable – the first of its kind in Australia.

A third transformer will arrive for its own complex installation process next month, while work continues to connect the first two.

“This is yet another clear demonstration of the rapid acceleration of the energy transition and the increasingly important role that will be played by large-scale storage in helping maintain grid stability,” Lumea executive general manager Craig Stallan said on Sunday.

“We are working to safely connect this enormous battery to the grid, improving system strength and enabling access to renewable, affordable and reliable energy for consumers.”

SEC’s general manager of asset delivery David Moo said the SEC’s first project continues to hit its construction milestones in line with the big battery being operational later this year.

“Soon, we’ll plug a publicly owned energy asset into the electricity grid for the first time in more than 25 years,” said state energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio.

“This is one of the world’s biggest batteries that can store enough energy to power 200,000 homes.”

The SEC plans to develop of 4.5 gigawatts of new renewable energy and storage projects includes the reinvestment of profits back into Victorian projects that deliver cheaper renewable energy.

Construction is also underway on the first 100 percent government owned renewable energy project in Australia – the SEC Renewable Energy Park in Horsham. The $370 million investment includes a 100-megawatt two-hour battery and 119-megawatt solar farm that will power 51,000 homes and create 246 jobs.

The newly installed leader of the Victorian opposition, Brad Battin, has pedged to scrap the SEC if his party wins the next state election.

“The SEC is nothing more than a bucket of money going to promotional items for the Labor government to pretend they’re doing something,” he told the Australian Financial Review in the first week of January.

“There’s no real employment and there’s no real outcomes. The SEC is gone if we win.”