The Victorian government has announced that planning approval for Global Power Generation (GPG) Australia’s 200 MW / 400 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project near Tarrone has been accelerated through the state’s Development Facilitation Program.
The $190 million (USD 124.5 million) project is planned for a six-hectare plot near the town on Tarrone on Victoria’s southwest coast. The proposed energy storage facility will connect to the grid via a 132 kV transmission line to the 500 kV Tarrone terminal station, that is immediately adjacent to the west of the site.
The planned location is near GPG Australia’s recently completed 218 MW Ryan Corner and 97 MW Hawkesdale wind farms, and AGL’s 400 MW Macarthur wind farm.
The state government said the battery will soak up and store cheap renewable energy during the day that can be pumped back into the electricity grid at times of peak demand.
Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the project will help the state reach its energy storage targets of connecting at least 2.6 GW of energy storage capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3 GW by 2035.
“This battery energy storage system is another way we’re shoring up energy supply and assisting our transition to 95% renewable energy by 2035,” she said.
The Tarrone battery project is the latest renewables development to be processed through Victoria’s Development Facilitation Program.
The state government opened up the program to include renewable energy projects last year in a bid to get more renewable energy projects off the ground faster. The government said since then, it has accelerated the approval of 16 renewable energy projects worth a combined $4.4 billion.
“Prior to this fast-tracked pathway, more than one in five renewable energy project applications ended up stuck in VCAT despite the overwhelming majority of projects being approved eventually – often delaying them by two years,” it said.
The planning approval for the Tarrone battery project expands GPG Australia’s pipeline of projects under construction and development.
Jointly owned by Spanish energy company Naturgy and an arm of the Kuwait Investment Authority, GPG Australia has a portfolio of eight operational assets with a combined capacity of more than 1 GW. These include the recently commissioned Cunderdin hybrid solar and battery plant in Western Australia, the 10 MW / 20 MWh ACT battery in the Australian Capital Territory and six wind farms in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.
In addition, the group has a broad portfolio of projects under development and construction including the 100 MW Bundaberg and 260 MW Glenellen solar farms being built in Queensland and NSW respectively. The Glenellen project is expected to be commissioned and fully operational by late 2025 while Bundaberg is due to start operations in Q3 2025.
In total, the project portfolio represents a combined installed capacity of more than 1.8 GW, including 818 MW of solar, 758 MW wind, and 245 MW / 600 MWh of battery energy storage.
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