Major Australian energy generator-retailer EnergyAustralia has sold a 50% share in its 1,400MWh Wooreen battery energy storage system (BESS) to Thailand-based energy firm Banpu Public Company.
The deal cost in the region of AU$700 million (US$455 million) with Banpu to provide an equity injection of AU$110 million.
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The 350MW/1,400MWh Wooreen BESS is set to be built within the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, in part to replace EnergyAustralia’s 1,450MW Yallourn coal-fired power station, which is scheduled for retirement in mid-2028.
The Wooreen BESS was one of the successful projects in the first round of the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS). It will be built adjacent to EnergyAustralia’s gas-fired Jeeralang Power Station.
The deal was signed with Banpu Energy Australia, the regional entity of the Banpu Public Company. The parent company is Thailand’s largest coal producer and distributor and recently made a strategic shift by investing in renewable energy technologies.
EnergyAustralia announced the battery storage project in 2021. Construction of the BESS started earlier this year and is planned to be completed in the second half of 2027.
Finnish marine and energy technology group Wärtsilä has been contracted to supply the BESS solution for the site. At the same time, balance-of-plant (BOP) contractor Zenviron will provide balance-of-plant design, construction, installation, and commissioning of the site. Tilt Renewables is developing the project.
Sinon Vongkusolkit, CEO of Banpu Public Company, noted that Australia’s energy market is undergoing a “rapid transformation” and that BESS will play a vital role in supporting the uptake of renewables.
“In the transition toward sustainable energy, we believe that BESS will play a critical role in supporting clean energy infrastructure and serve as a locomotive for Banpu’s Energy Symphonics progress toward the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2030 and reaching net zero by 2050,” Vongkusolkit added.
In other news, EnergyAustralia partnered with EDF Power Solutions Australia last month to deliver a 3GWh pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) system in New South Wales.
The strategic partnership will support the development of the Lake Lyell PHES site in Lithgow, a city in the Central Tablelands region of the state. The size of the 8-hour duration PHES project will be 385MW/3,080MWh. The project is expected to operate for up to 80 years.
