Victoria to get huge big battery park as UK developer advances “multi-gigawatt” Australian plans

UK energy storage developer Pacific Green has proposed its second grid-scale energy storage project in Australia in a matter of months, unveiling plans for a massive 1GW, 2.5GWh big battery project in Portland in Victoria’s south-west – the state’s biggest such precinct.

Pacific Green says the Portland Energy Park, which is in the early stages of planning and approvals process, will combine four 250MW batteries of varying storage duration capacites, a 500/33kV collector, and a 500kV terminal station and grid connection to the existing 500kV transmission line.

The company says the energy park will be developed as four stand-alone projects, each with their own connection point. Three of the batteries will be have two hours of energy storage duration (250MW/500MWh each) and one energy park will be four hours (250MW/1,000MWh).

And while the projects will be standalone, they will all occupy the same site, and could be built all at once or through a staged process – Pacific Green says the development approach will be informed by the offtake requirements, which it is currently in the process of securing.

The project will be among the biggest batteries in the state – alongside Equis Renewables’ 1,200MW, 2.400MWh Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub, backed by the state government-owned State Electricity Commission and being built near Melton in Melbourne’s outer west, holds that title.

Once operational, Pacific Greens says the 2.5GWh project will provide “critical support” for existing and proposed renewable energy projects in the region, which takes in the Southwest Renewable Energy Zone.

“More broadly, it will strengthen energy supply and price stability for households across Victoria and support the state’s net-zero transition,” the company said on Monday.

Joel Alexander, Pacific Green’s Australian managing director says the Portland Energy Park the new big battery is also strategically positioned within the Portland industrial zone, close to the energy intensive Portland Aluminium smelter and Portland Water Treatment Plant.

“We are thrilled to announce our second battery energy storage project in Australia. Our mission is to deliver critical storage infrastructure to support the grid network and enable the decarbonisation of the energy market,” Alexander said.

Pacific Green made its debut on the Australian energy market in late November last year, with plans for one of the nation’s biggest battery project’s yet – a 500MW, three-hour battery energy storage system on South Australia’s Limestone Coast.

As RenewEconomy reported, the 0.5GW/1.5GWh Limestone Coast Energy Park stands to be biggest big battery in South Australia – and trumps the previous “biggest” battery project just a day after that was unveiled by Denmark’s CIP.

Pacific Green says the location of the proposed Limestone Coast Energy Park means it would be able to charge and discharge excess renewable energy to and from Victoria, via its access to the interconnector.

“Our Limestone Coast Battery Energy Park can act as a load during the day, increasing the viability of even more solar and wind generation, whilst shifting energy to the times it is most valuable in the evening peak,” said Joel Alexander, Pacific Green’s managing director of Australia.

Again, the location for the battery was carefully selected, across from an existing substation that feeds into the Heywood Interconnector – the transmission line that links South Australia and Victoria.

“Our Limestone Coast Battery Energy Park can act as a load during the day, increasing the viability of even more solar and wind generation, whilst shifting energy to the times it is most valuable in the evening peak,” said Alexander, at the time.

Pacific Green says the bigger Portland Energy Park is currently going through its regulatory approvals process and is scheduled to be constructed in the first half of 2025.