Spanish energy giant switches on ACT battery – its first in the world

A 10MW, two-hour (20MWh) battery energy storage system has been completed in the ACT, where it will be used in partnership with local transmission company, TransGrid, to support the network in the Queanbeyan region.

The battery was developed by Global Power Generation, a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Naturgy, as part of a contract awarded by the ACT government to build the 107MW Berrybank 2 wind farm in Victoria’s Western Plains.

For Naturgy, the Australian BESS marks the first energy storage facility anywhere in the world for the company. It will be followed by a 50MW/220MWh battery being built as part of a landmark solar and storage hybrid project bought up by Naturgy in September – another first for the company.

That project, the Cunderdin solar and battery project in Western Australia, also marks Australia’s first big “dc-coupled” solar battery at this scale, with the focus on shifting solar into the evening peak rather than providing frequency and other grid support services.

The “dc-coupled” part of the equation means it will not be directly connected to the grid, and will instead focus on storing the output of the 100MW solar farm to shift it to times of higher prices.

Naturgy says the relatively small big battery in the ACT will enable flexible integration of renewable energy into the Canberra grid and boost supply at times when less electricity is being generated.

A significant project

Global Power Generation, which is also partly owned by the Kuwait Investment Authority, says the launch of the storage system marks an important milestone for the company.

“[This battery is] a major step towards strengthening our international presence and our contribution to the energy transition,” said GPG managing director Francisco Bustío.

“We are very pleased that the government of the Australian Capital Territory has trusted us to develop this significant project and we hope to be able to continue working together closely from here on.”

Through GPG, Naturgy already has a significant portfolio of wind farms in Australia, which it describes as one of its key markets, with plans to grow its local portfolio nearly 10-fold over the next three years to 2.2GW.

GPG’s completed projects include the 96MW Crookwell 2 wind farm in NSW, and the 180MW Berrybank 1 wind farm in Victoria, with another 109MW in the Berrybank 2 wind farm currently under commissioning.

It has another 630MW of wind projects that have power purchase agreements that are currently under construction or about to be, including the Ryan Corner, Hawkesdale, Crookwell 3 and Paling Yards wind farms. It has another 417MW of projects under development in Victoria.

Keeping it in the Spanish family

Supporting technology and infrastructure for the ACT lithium-ion battery was provided by fellow Spanish outfit Ingeteam, which was last year contracted to supply key equipment for the massive 400MW New England solar farm, being developed by ACEN in New South Wales.

For Ingeteam, the ACT battery project also marks its first large-scale storage project in Australia where the company has provided a “comprehensive supply,” including containers, power conversion systems, the control system, commissioning and operation and maintenance services.

“This project has been a real challenge for us, as it involved the comprehensive supply (power stations, battery containers, control system, etc.) for a project developed in the antipodes, in a very complicated context due to the numerous restrictions posed by the pandemic,” said José Antonio Unanue, director of Ingeteam’s BESS business.

“The project could not have been completed without the essential contribution of our subsidiary in Australia. Which is why we in the BESS business are very pleased and proud to have successfully brought it to fruition.”