Sunwoda Energy, a subsidiary of Sunwoda Group, one of the world’s largest lithium-ion battery OEMs, has signed a deal with Gryphon Energy to develop a 1.6GWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Queensland, Australia.
According to a statement released by the companies last week (24 October), the partnership was signed at All-Energy Australia 2024, in Melbourne, Victoria, and will see the development of one of Australia’s largest energy storage facilities.
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The delivery, grid connection, and operation of the energy storage project, which will provide grid reliability services to the state and national power grids, are scheduled for 2026.
Although information on the project is sparse, the companies confirmed that it is set to utilise Sunwoda’s NoahX 5MWh liquid cooling energy storage system, which uses the company’s self-developed 314Ah cells.
It is also suggested that Australia will become a growing focus for Sunwoda in the near future, given the country’s high irradiance and growing demand for co-located energy storage projects. For this, the companies will look to “deepen their collaboration”.
Sunwoda also said it had successfully connected its 5MW/11MWh project in New South Wales to the grid. As discussed in an article on Energy-Storage.news earlier this year, the project features four units of the company’s 2,752kWh battery containers.
Like its project, little information on customer Gryphon Energy is readily findable online. A company director informed Energy-Storage.news that the developer currently preferred “to have a bit of a lower profile” but noted that having utilised Sunwoda’s technology for a previous project had been “very pleased with its performance” and “happy to recommend to others”.
Gamesa Electric to supply inverters for 250MWh BESS in Western Australia
In other news, Spanish electrical equipment maker Gamesa Electric will supply 12 Proteus PCS-E inverters for a 50MW/250MWh BESS developed by mining giant Fortescue Group in Western Australia.
Six PCS stations, including transformers and MV equipment, will receive the Proteus PCS-E inverters in a plug-and-play configuration. This is the company’s latest grid-forming technology, and, as Alan Brown, Australia sales director of solar and storage at Gamesa Electric, stated, it will help meet “one of the most demanding markets for grid connections and environmental conditions”. It will include black start capability and Gamesa Electric’s power plant controller (PPC).
It is worth noting that the BESS will be co-located alongside a 100MW solar PV power plant, which is set to meet the demands of Fortescue Metal Groups’ Iron Bridge magnetite mine in the mineral-rich Pilbara region.
Enrique de la Cruz, Gamesa Electric’s global solar and storage sales director, emphasised the potential of the Australian energy storage market, noting that it is a “very attractive market”, citing the anticipated seven-fold energy storage capacity increase by 2030.
