Oil giant unit wins contract to build first big battery in New Zealand

Saft, a unit of French oil giant TotalEnergies, has won the contract to build the first big battery in New Zealand, beating out rivals such as Tesla and Fluence for the $NZ186 million project.

The construction of the 100MW and 200MWh Ruakākā battery was formally announced in late December by New Zealand electricity company Meridian, and is expected to deliver a quick payback with revenues of $NZ35 million a year and profits of $NZ30 million a year.

The Ruakākā battery will be built next to a fuel import terminal on the country’s North Island, and an electricity sub-station, but is also expected to be accompanied by what will be the country’s biggest solar farm, of around 130MW.

Meridian estimates that the benefits of the shared infrastructure will lower the cost of the solar farm by around $NZ20/MWh, which appears to be a significant saving.

The revenue estimates for the battery include price arbitrage, reserve market participation (fast frequency response), and indirect revenue, such as reducing the need for thermal generation.

“This BESS will help manage supply fluctuations and reduce this country’s reliance on fossil fuels. We have a bold vision for Ruakākā, with a grid-scale solar farm planned to further speed up our transition to a low carbon economy,” Meridian Energy CEO Neal Barclay said in a statement issued by Saft.

“The shared infrastructure provided by the BESS will significantly improve the economics of the future solar farm.”

Saft says it will provide a fully integrated solution for the Ruakākā BESS, including supply of battery and power conversion equipment, installation, commissioning and 20 years operational services.

The big battery – which will feature 3MWh battery container packs and lithium iron phosphate technology – is scheduled to enter service in the second half of 2024.

Saft says the Intensium-Shift 3 MWh containers are scalable building blocks. They can be installed in line-ups with power conversion equipment with a 50% smaller system footprint, while reducing 50% of site-related activities, allowing a faster deployment of utility-scale storage plants.

The Ruakākā contract appears to the biggest for Saft battery systems. It has previously provided back-up functionality in remote and harsh environments from the Arctic Circle to the Sahara Desert, and is working on a big battery installation in Carling, France.