Green light for major battery storage project

Wandoan is set to host one of Australia’s largest grid-scale batteries under a 15-year agreement between AGL and Vena Energy Australia. AGL chief executive officer Brett Redman said the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) would have a capacity of 100 megawatts (MW) and store 150 megawatt hours of energy, which could power up to 57,000 average homes. “With the signing of the agreement, work on the BESS will commence and is scheduled to take about 18 months,” Mr Redman said. Vena Energy chief executive officer Nitin Apte said the lithium ion battery build would begin in July and take about a year to complete. “The battery energy storage system is the first major milestone in our $650 million Wandoan South Project, which has the potential to supply up to 400,000 Queensland households with solar energy,” he said. “During construction of the battery, local employment and procurement opportunities will be available, with the labour force anticipated to be 30 strong. “And once the battery is built, Vena Energy Australia plans to keep the momentum moving and aims to begin work on a solar farm at the same site in 2021.” Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said Queensland already had three large-scale batteries operating: at Lakeland Solar Farm in Far North Queensland, at Kennedy Energy Park near Hughenden, and one at the University of Queensland in Brisbane. Another in Townsville - the Yurika community-scale battery at Bohle Plains - is expected to be operating next month. Yurika has started installing batteries at Bohle Plains in Townsville. “Queensland has seen $4.7 billion worth of investment in renewable energy projects since December 2016, creating 4200 jobs,” Dr Lynham said. “Queensland now has almost 5500 megawatts of renewable generation capacity. “Batteries are next, and all of this investment demonstrates industry’s strong confidence in Queensland’s growing clean energy industry.” “It’s all ensuring that we remain well on track to reach our target of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030.” Clean Energy Council chief executive Kane Thornton said increasing energy storage capacity in the grid was the next phase in the modernisation of Australia’s energy network. “A similar battery project in South Australia from 2017 has been extremely successful in strengthening the grid, and this latest announcement is fantastic news for Australia’s clean energy industry,” he said. Watch a fly-through of the proposed Wandoan project here: https://www.facebook.com/annastaciamp/videos/605201766944453/?v605201766944453

Green light for major battery storage project

Industry Queensland

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