Tesla Megapacks arrive as former coal site transforms into big Queensland battery

The first batch of Tesla Megapacks has arrived at the site of one of Queensland’s biggest batteries yet, that is being built at a former coal generation hub south of Brisbane to store excess solar energy and help balance the local grid.

The 250 MW, two-hour (500 MWh) Swanbank Battery is being developed by Queensland government-owned renewables outfit, CleanCo, at the site of the former Swanbank A and B coal-fired power stations, whose last units were closed in 2005 and 2012, respectively.

Swanbank Battery Stage 1, which was funded with $330 million from the for Labor government’s Queensland Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund, is ready to install on the site of the Swanbank B coal plant, making use of the large, flat, industrial site.

In a LinkedIn updated on Thursday, project construction partner said the first of 138 Tesla Megapacks had arrived at the site, marking a milestone in its redevelopment into a Clean Energy Hub, featuring a range of future energy generation and storage technologies.

“We currently have close to 65 workers on site and the team is firmly focused on getting each battery unloaded and positioned onto the concrete footings,” Yurika project manager Brendon Watts said in a statement.

“Once safely positioned, we’ll get to work connecting the battery packs to a series of medium voltage transformers and high voltage infrastructure to transfer the stored power back to the grid.

“Our team is additionally supplying a 275/33kV substation and network connection that will continue to transfer the BESS energy for decades to come at critical times, to support the local community.”

Watts says the stage 1 battery project is on track to be completed by mid-2025.

For stage 2 of the Hub’s storage component, CleanCo recently revealed it was looking to commission a 1.5 MW sodium sulphur battery with at least six hours storage. 

The battery will be made by Japan’s NGK and Germany’s BASF and is to be installed by Queensland company Allset, which built the country first sodium sulphur battery (1.5 MWh) at the Nova nickel cobalt copper mine in Western Australia earlier last year.

CleanCo says the stackable, modular design of the NAS sodium sulphur battery means it can expand to gigawatt scale projects. The molten salt battery uses liquid sodium and sulfur electrodes, has no risk of thermal runaway, does not use toxic chemicals and is also long lasting.