Australian developer and energy sector advisory Bid Energy Partners has unveiled plans to build a grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) with a discharge capacity of approximately 1 GW and storage capacity of approximately 4 GWh at Kiar on the New South Wales (NSW) Central Coast.
Sydney-based Bid has submitted plans for the Kiar Energy Storage System to the federal government for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act and lodged a scoping report to the NSW Major Project Portal.
Bid said the primary purpose of the Kiar project, planned for a 40-hectare site about 45 kilometres southwest of Newcastle, is to support the transition of the electricity network from coal-fired generation to firmed renewables by shifting excess solar generation during the day to periods of peak demand.
“Additionally, the project will provide market ancillary services such as frequency control and key electricity network services that support the secure and reliable operation of the electricity network,” the company said in project documents.
Bid said the Kiar site is well suited to the deployment of energy storage assets, located in a region that hosts several existing and proposed solar and wind projects but with limited complementary energy storage assets.
“The location is within a region of the electricity transmission network with high energy demand and with high-capacity existing transmission lines that are currently underutilised owing to the progressive exit of legacy coal generation,” it said, adding that the battery will connect to the grid via NSW network operator Transgrid’s existing 330 kV transmission line that stretches across the site.
“This minimises the cost of transmission infrastructure needed to connect the project by using existing underutilised infrastructure.”
Bid said the battery will also help the state achieve its renewable energy goals as it prepares for the ongoing closure of the state’s four remaining ageing coal-fired power stations.
NSW has a renewable infrastructure roadmap that seeks to deliver at least 12 GW of renewable energy generation and 2 GW / 16 GWh of long-duration storage by 2030.
Construction of the Kiar project is expected to begin in 2026, subject to the approvals process, with Bid anticipating commissioning of the energy storage system in late 2027 or early 2028.
The Kiar Energy Storage System is one of two standalone battery projects being developed in NSW by Bid. The second is the 400 MW / 800 MWh Derringullen Energy Storage System proposed for near Yass in the state’s south.
They are among a suite of large-scale batteries being developed in NSW, including a handful in close proximity to the Kiar project.
These include the 850 MW, 1,680 MWh Waratah Super Battery being constructed by Akayasha and Origin Energy’s 700 MW / 2,800 MWh Eraring battery. Others being developed in the region include CEP.Energy’s 1.2 GW Kurri Kurri battery and AGL’s 500 MW / 1,000 MWh Liddell project.
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