Saudi-owned renewables giant powers up its first big battery in Australia

Saudi-controlled renewable energy developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) has energised its first battery energy storage system (BESS) in Australia, the 100-megawatt (MW) two-hour Terang BESS in southwestern Victoria.

FRV Australia announced late last week that it had successfully energised the Terang BESS on November 24 and that the project had almost completed construction and was about to enter its commissioning phase.

Located near the small town of Terang in Victoria’s southwest, approximately 45-kilometres north-east of Warrnambool, the BESS boasts a discharge capacity of 100 MW and storage capacity of two hours, or 200-megawatt-hours (MWh).

Once fully operational, the Terang BESS will help to stabilise the electricity grid by storing energy when there is a surplus and releasing it when it is most needed.

According to FRV’s announcement on its LinkedIn page, the Terang BESS “will use intelligent algorithms to optimize performance, reducing demand peaks and accelerating the transition to a more sustainable grid.”

While the big battery is a first in Australia for FRV, last year it switched on one of the country’s first true “hybrid” solar-battery projects in Dalby, Queensland. 

The 2.45 megawatt (MW) solar farm and 2.54 MW/5MWh battery was originated in 2021, taking advantage of a proposed rule change that allowed different renewable energy generators and batteries to share a grid connection point – a first, at that time.

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