Battery storage projects at least 1GWh of capacity have been proposed or progressed in Australia by companies Synergy, SkyLab and the Queensland government.
A site has been chosen in Emerald, Central Queensland for a 4MW/8MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project, the Queensland government said yesterday (20 March). The town is home to nearly 2,000 home solar systems and the BESS will allow the capture of that renewable energy and drive down bills, the announcement said.
Construction has also started on a 50MW BESS project near Gracemere, also in Queensland, though the government did not provide a commercial operation date (COD) for either. The 4MW/8MWh project will be owned by state-owned Ergon Energy.
“The great value of locating this new battery project in Emerald is that it will support additional solar energy in the local area over the next decade,” said Queensland’s Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner.
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“As we connect more renewables for our customers, battery storage will give us greater flexibility to connect rooftop solar, balance supply and demand, and keep voltages in check, which is vital for the security of the network that powers Queensland,” added the state’s general manager for Energy Storage, Glenn Dahlenburg.
The past week has also seen much larger projects proposed by private company SkyLab, also in Queensland, and utility Synergy, owned by the government of Western Australia.
Developer SkyLab launched a development application with the Toowoomba Regional Council for its Punch’s Creek Renewable Energy Project on 9 March. The project would pair a 800MW/1GWp solar PV array with a 200MW/250MWh BESS unit, and would be located in the South West Queensland Renewable Energy Zone.
Skylab recently increased the target size of the project from 400MW/480MWp solar and 200MWh of storage previously.
That coincided with Synergy unveiling plans for a 200MW/800MWh battery energy to adjoin a 100MW/200MWh system it is already building at the decommissioned Kwinana power station south of Perth, according to local reports. E-mobility and energy storage company NHOA started installation work on the latter in August last year.
See all recent coverage of the energy storage market in Australia here.
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