Risen Energy to build its first big battery in Australia with “gamechanger” Arena funding

Risen Energy will build its first big battery in Australia, after its 200MW/400MWh Bungama project was one of eight tapped to receive funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency over the weekend.

The Bungama battery energy storage system project (BESS) in South Australia will be located adjacent to the 275/132 kV Bungama Substation near Port Pirie in South Australia.

The battery project, which is already approved for development and is currently awaiting grid connection approval, will feature grid forming inverter technology – a focus of Arena’s funding round for large-scale energy storage.

Risen CEO Archie Chen says the “gamechanger” funding from Arena has enabled the company to incorporate advanced inverter functionality in the battery’s design, when it otherwise might not have been considered.

“The funding will also enable us to provide the best possible solution for the project and the learnings attained from Bungama will benefit similar BESS projects in our pipeline,” Chen says.

The inverter technology Chen refers to means that big batteries can provide most, if not all, of the crucial grid services currently provided by coal plants, which in Australia are expected to close over the coming decade.

This is a particularly important service for South Australia, which is forging ahead on the path to 100 per cent “net renewables,” and which over the last week saw renewables average at 104.1 per cent of state demand.

Risen says the Bungama BESS will play an important role in strengthening the South Australian energy network and will likely become the home for several other large generator and/or load connections.

Notably, another completely separate solar and big battery project is being developed in Bungama by Toronto-based Amp Energy, in this case with 336MW PV and a 150MWh BESS.

For Risen, while the Bungama battery will be the China-based company’s first in Australia – the project is expected to be operational by mid to end 2024 – it has more of the same in its project pipeline.

A spokesperson tells RenewEconomy Risen Energy Australia has three other BESS projects and one solar and BESS hybrid project along various stages of the developmental pipeline.

The company has also developed two solar projects in Australia, including the Yarranlea solar farm in Queensland and the Merredin solar farm in Western Australia, which it sold to Sun Energy.

See RenewEconomy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia

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