Jointly developed by United Kingdom-headquartered energy storage business Eku Energy and Queensland-headquartered gen-tailer Shell Energy Australia, the Rangebank 200 MW / 400 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) has successfully been energised.
Diversified energy network business AusNet Victoria’s transmission connection team energised the 220 kV feeder bay at the adjacent Cranbourne Terminal Station, which is used to connect the Rangebank BESS to the electricity grid.
The BESS will have a storage capacity to power an equivalent of 80,000 homes for an hour during peak periods and will increase Victoria’s renewable energy hosting capacity.
Through an offtake agreement, Shell Energy Australia will have access to 100% of the battery’s offtake over a 20-year period.
The BESS was built and will be serviced and maintained by America-headquartered storage specialists Fluence, which also supplied its sixth generation Gridstack energy storage technology across the 19,250 square metre site.
Victoria has an energy storage target of 2.6 GW of capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3 GW by 2035, which will include short, medium and deep duration systems allowing energy to be moved around during the day and supplied through longer duration imbalances.
Eku Energy currently has three BESS in Australia, to compliment three projects in the United Kingdom and one in Japan.
Also in Victoria, the Hazelwood 150 MW / 150 MWh BESS is located 30 kilometres west of Melbourne on the site of a retired coal-fired power station, and is jointly funded and developed with France-headquartered energy company Engie, and built and operated by Fluence.
Eku Energy has under development as part of the ACT government’s Big Canberra Battery project, the 250 MW / 500 MWh Williamsdale BESS, located south of Canberra, which will store enough energy to power one-third of the Australian capital for two hours during peak demand periods.
The Australian Electricity Market Operator (AEMO)’s 2024 Integrated System Plan (ISP) projects Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) will need 49 GW / 646 GWh of dispatchable storage by 2050.
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