Second big battery joins grid in Victorian coal country, bringing “critical” storage capacity

The second big battery to be built in the Latrobe Valley – the heart of Victoria’s declining brown coal power generation industry – has officially launched, adding 200 megawatt-hours of energy storage capacity to the state’s grid.

Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio cut the ribbon on Tilt Renewables’ 100 megawatt (MW), 200 megawatt-hour (MWh) Latrobe Valley battery energy storage system (BESS) on Thursday, at its location beside the existing Morwell terminal station. 

The new BESS joins the nearby 150 MW, 150 MWh Hazelwood battery, built by Fluence, on behalf of Engie and Eku Energy at the site of the former brown coal generator, as the second in the region.

“We’re proud to invest in the Latrobe Valley and contribute to its transformation into a hub for clean energy innovation,” Tilt Renewables CEO Anthony Fowler said on Thursday.

“It’s a big win for Victoria and a significant milestone for Tilt Renewables, which is leading Australian-owned renewable energy business and the largest owner of wind and solar generation in the country.”

The battery system is being supplied and maintained by US-based Fluence, which also built the Hazelwood battery, and has been connected to the grid by AusNet. A second stage could lift its total capacity to 200 MW, and 800 MWh, depending on market conditions.

And more batteries are in the pipeline to join the Latrobe Valley network, including EnergyAustralia’s 350 MW, 1400 MWh Wooreen battery being built next to an existing gas plant near Churchill, to help replace the gentailer’s Yallourn brown coal plant that is shutting down in 2028.

That Wooreen battery is already under construction, with others to be built including AGL’s Loy Yang battery, Eku Energy’s Tramway Roads battery, and Flow Power’s Bennett Creek battery.

The Loy Yang A and the Loy Yang B brown coal generators are both expected to close by 2035, in line with the state government’s legislated target of 95 per cent renewables by that date. That target will require 6.3 GW and around 25 GWh of storage.

“This is another renewable energy win for the Latrobe Valley, helping more homes and businesses benefit from this project, including lower bills and having a more secured power supply,” D’Ambrosio said at the ribbon cutting event.

“Energy storage is critical to the transition – and we’re making great progress towards our first renewable energy storage target of at least 2.6 GW by 2030.” 

“Mark this down as another important date in Victoria’s path towards a cleaner future,” said Tilt on LinkedIn.

“Our people, community and industry partners gathered in Morwell, south-west of Melbourne, as we took this major step towards a clean energy hub in the Latrobe Valley.

“As always, we’ve worked hand in hand with the community to deliver a project which will have long-term benefits,” Tilt says.

See also Renew Economy’s Big Battery Storage Map of Australia

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