While the dimensions of the batteries are yet to be finalised, they are expected to be sized at 20 MW / 40 MWh with around two hours of storage. The collective capacity of the 13 batteries is expected to be around 300 MW.
News outlet Renew Economy is reporting the batteries will mostly be situated in South Australia and Victoria with a sprinkling in New South Wales. Gransolar Group, a Spanish engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractor, has reportedly already secured the land and is currently undergoing regulatory approvals.
The company is expecting the first batteries to come online by the end of the year, with the rest due for completion in the first half of 2022.
Presumably responding to news of Neoen’s plan to build a 500 MW / 1000 MWh big battery west of Sydney, and Origin’s announcement of its 700 MW battery proposal in the Hunter Region, Gransolar’s Managing Director for Australia, Carlos Lopez, described NSW as a less attractive state for big battery development because of increased competition.
Instead, Gransolar are opting to focus its battery rollout on SA – due to its impressive wind and solar penetration – and Victoria – with its grid congestion woes. While only those three Australian states have been named so far, Lopez has not ruled out developing batteries in other states.
While Gransolar has its roots in solar, with hundreds of solar farms across the world, the company is says moving into large-scale batteries is a logical next move. “There is not much difference in developing a battery project and a utility-scale solar farm. Of course it has its technology challenges because it’s a different technology. But this is part of our core business,” Lopez said.
“I believe we will be one of the leaders in the space. That’s the aim – to have a significant portfolio that we can build,” he said. “The same as we have done in the utility scale solar farm, where we are like top five PVC contractors in Australia, the idea is to have significant place in the battery storage ranking.”
Gransolar’s E22 has already set to work on its first project in Australia, a 5 MW / 7.5 MW lithium-ion battery in Longwarry, Victoria. Set to provide AusNet with much-needed network services, the companies have a five year deal in place with the battery expected to be completed in the first half of this year.
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