Energy storage developer Eku Energy has started constructing a 250MW/500MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Canberra, the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).
A groundbreaking ceremony was held today (22 November), with the recently re-elected ACT chief minister Andrew Barr in attendance. Eku Energy reached financial close on the 2-hour duration Williamsdale grid-forming BESS earlier this month.
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The Williamsdale BESS is also part of the ACT government’s Big Canberra Battery project, which aims to deliver an ecosystem of batteries to ensure grid reliability and stability throughout the energy transition. It was announced as part of the Territory’s 2020-2021 budget, with AU$100 million (US$67 million) in funding pledged.
The ACT government will benefit from the Williamsdale BESS via a revenue swap arrangement, which means the Territory will receive a share of the revenue secured from participation in the NEM.
The BESS, anticipated to be operational in 2026, will operate in grid-forming mode and provide system strength services and fast-acting frequency control ancillary services. For these services, Eku Energy will receive fixed quarterly payments from the Territory over a period of 15 years.
Barr highlighted that the Williamsdale BESS is a “significant milestone” in the ACT’s energy transition.
“The ACT government remains dedicated to ensuring that the ACT remains one of the world’s most livable cities. By investing in projects like the Big Canberra Battery, we’re supporting economic growth, generating an ongoing supply of reliable revenue, creating local jobs, and attracting new investment in clean technology,” Barr added.
It is worth noting that the Williamsdale BESS is ACT’s largest storage project in development. Developer Neoen is also working through the commissioning process of its 100MW/200MWh Capital Battery project.
Williamsdale to utilise Tesla Megapacks
As previously reported by Energy-Storage.news, the Williamsdale BESS will use Tesla Megapack units, a solution being deployed at several utility-scale BESS projects in Australia, such as the 1,600MWh Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub in Victoria and the state-owned 1,200MWh Stanwell BESS in Queensland.
The successes of Tesla’s energy storage division earned praise from its CEO and the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, who said in late October that “It won’t be long” before Tesla’s stationary energy storage business is shipping 100GWh a year.
Tesla was recently revealed to be the only AAA-rated BESS supplier in the global market in the Battery StorageTech Bankability Report published by our colleagues at PV Tech Research.
Eku Energy’s business model variety
Eku Energy is an energy storage development platform launched in late 2022 through the Macquarie Asset Management-owned Green Investment Group (GIG).
Earlier this year, the company discussed how its Australian projects are developed under a variety of different business models, such as merchant, in an exclusive interview on Energy.Storage.news Premium.
Rachel Rundle, Eku Energy’s senior manager for policy and regulation in the APAC region, said that Eku Energy takes each project on a case-by-case basis, stating that it’s impossible to say what the commercial and revenue for schemes may look like. However, the contribution the schemes could bring to the country’s decarbonisation is unparalleled.
“We definitely see that with all the system challenges that we as a sector are aware of, through all these thermal plants coming out of the system, batteries are really well-placed to provide those services: whether it be system strength, whether it be synthetic inertia, voltage support, batteries are sort of that multi-tool asset,” Rundle said.
