Koorangie storage facility hits milestone with delivery of 100 Tesla Megapacks

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The $400 million (USD 263.8 million) Koorangie energy storage system (KESS), being built in northwest Victoria near the town of Kerang, has achieved a milestone with the delivery of 100 large-scale rechargeable lithium-ion Tesla Megapack batteries.

The Tesla Megapacks are equipped with grid-forming inverters that will operate in virtual machine mode allowing the storage system to operate like a conventional generator and provide crucial system strength services to increase the renewable hosting capacity of the Murray River renewable energy zone (REZ).

The technology further reduces the reliance on ageing coal-fired generators.

Tesla Megapacks are equipped with grid forming inverters that operate in virtual machine mode, which will increase renewable hosting capacity of the Murray River renewable energy zone.

Image: Edify Energy

Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio said Koorangie is a cutting-edge facility that will help Victoria hit its energy storage targets and support its transition to renewable energy by providing stability to the grid in regional Victoria.

“Projects like Koorangie are keeping the lights on for households across the state and are helping us move away from expensive fossil fuels and onto safer, affordable and more reliable renewable energy,” D’Ambrosio said.

With an installed 185 MW / 370 MWh of storage capacity, a single charge of the battery system can power all the homes in the local Gannawarra Shire Council area for more than 14 days, all homes in the township of Kerang for more than 30 days or the equivalent of 350,000 homes for two hours.

KESS is one of 12 projects being delivered as part of the Victorian government’s $480 million Renewable Energy Zone Fund and was identified as a priority for development by REZ developer VicGrid and the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

KESS is being delivered by Sydney-headquartered Edify Energy but is now owned by Italy-headquartered infrastructure investor Sosteneo.

The KESS is supported by a 15-year term offtake agreement with Shell Energy for the full 185 MW / 370 MWh.

It also has a 20-year system support agreement with AEMO to provide system strength services.

The Victorian government has legislated storage targets of at least 2.6 GW by 2030 and at least 6.3 GW by 2035 – enough renewable energy to power around half of Victoria’s current homes at their peak energy use.

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