RWE says Australian eight hour battery win puts it on path to 3GW of storage

Germany energy giant RWE says the landmark battery storage win in Australia with its proposed eight hour storage configuration is part of a global ambition to build 3GW of battery storage capacity by 2030.

RWE Renewables is to build a 50MW, eight hour battery (400MWh) next to its 249MW Limondale solar farm in south-west NSW after being declared the winner of the first long duration storage tender in Australia.

The tender held by the NSW government had been expected to award up to 600MW of long duration storage capacity but in the end allocated just the 50MW battery project.

Pumped hydro projects that bid into the tender will be invited to bid into the second round to be announced later this month, and may also get support from the proposed Energy Security Corporation.

RWE said in a statement issued late on Monday that the battery project will take advantage of existing grid infrastructure next to the solar farm (pictured above).

“We are delighted to be awarded this major battery storage project and look forward to a successful partnership with the New South Wales government,” said Katja Wünschel, CEO RWE Renewables Europe and Australia.

This success creates further momentum working towards a sustainable future in our core market Australia. In a renewables world, battery storages are key for a reliable, secure and sustainable electricity supply.

“We have been operating in New South Wales for some years, and now we are keen to develop a battery project that is exemplary, both technically and environmentally – hand in hand with local communities. It is another milestone on our way to expand our global batteries portfolio to 3 gigawatts by 2030.”

RWE says it is building battery storage projects in Europe, the US and AUstralia and currently has an installed capacity of 300MW and 380MWh, or an average of little more than one hour storage.

The portfolio of battery storage projects currently under construction reflects longer duration storage, totalling more than 900MW and 2,300MWh, reflecting the growing use of batteries to time shift renewables rather than suppling grid services.

RWE says it aims to build battery storage systems with a total capacity of 3 gigawatts around the world by 2030. Some of that portfolio comes from the UK developer JBM Solar which it bought in March this year.

The company is building two solar plants with integrated battery storage at RWE’s Garzweiler brown coal mine that feeds coal generators in Germany.