Hithium will supply battery storage and SMA the power conversion systems (PCS) for a 500MWh grid-forming project in Australia for developer Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV).
Chinese vertically integrated battery energy storage system (BESS) technology company Hithium announced the deal with FRV last week (11 September). It covers the Gnarwarre BESS, a 250MW/500MWh (2-hour duration) project in development in the South Coast Shire of Victoria.
Hithium bills itself as ‘the only top-tier battery manufacturer solely focused on energy storage’ and has enjoyed a rapid rise since its founding just six years ago, in 2019. In Australia alone, Hithium claims to now have 2.5GWh of BESS assets mid-delivery, supported by long-term service agreements (LTSAs).
The company will integrate 112 units of its ∞Block 5MWh BESS solution with German solar PV inverter manufacturer SMA’s PCS tech—central to providing grid-forming applications like synthetic inertia and short-circuit current—at Gnarwarre. It has also signed an LTSA with FRV.
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The ∞Block, Hithium’s standardised 20-foot ISO container BESS product, was launched in 2023. It features 314Ah lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells arranged into 48 modules per enclosure.
At its launch at the RE+ 2023 trade show in September of that year, the manufacturer claimed its energy density to be 117 Wh/l. Hithium recently completed what it claimed was the world’s first ‘all-open door’ large-scale fire testing (LSFT) process, conducted by UL Solutions on a ∞Block 5MWh at full state of charge (SoC) and with all fire suppression systems deactivated.
Gnarwarre marks Hithium’s first collaboration with FRV, the Spain-headquartered developer jointly owned by Saudia Arabia’s Abdul Latif Jameel Energy and Canadian investment and asset manager OMERS Infrastructure.
FRV achieved financial close on the Gnarwarre BESS in mid-2024. FRV had announced an AU$1.2 billion (US$800 million) refinancing for a portfolio of assets in Australia in late July of last year. At the time, the company said the transaction covered 1GW of solar PV projects, but subsequently revealed a few weeks ago that the Victorian standalone BESS was included.
Hithium said its advanced inverter-integrated BESS will be capable of performing applications, including energy arbitrage and Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS) and system restart services, thought to represent black start of generators and grid infrastructure. Hithium also said its customer also intends to play the asset into future capacity market procurements.
