Utility Scale Storage

Dutch company Photon Energy Group has acquired its first utility scale solar and battery project, opting for a venture 500 kilometres northwest of Sydney which it says will become a “prototype” for its European portfolio.

US battery specialist Powin and US investment firm BlackRock have started work on a 909 MW/1,915 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) in Australia. Construction is set to begin in 2023 and will finish by mid-2025.

After almost four years of delays the solar-wind hybrid 60 MW Kennedy Energy Park in north Queensland is inching towards full operation. Project developer Windlab confirms the final stage of testing and commissioning of the Australian-first hybrid renewable energy project is underway.

Singapore-headquartered infrastructure developer Equis has announced plans to construct a 1,200 MW/2.4 GWh battery in Victoria that it claims will be the largest battery energy storage system yet developed in Australia and Asia.

Sun Cable is seeking to develop the world’s biggest intercontinental solar and storage project, and has now inked a deal with the Indonesian government that could unlock more than $170 billion (USD 115 billion) in renewable energy generation and transmission operations in the archipelago.

The New South Wales government has received bids for more than 5.5 GW of wind and solar projects, along with more than 2.5 GW of long-duration storage projects, in response to its first tender to secure renewable projects to transform its coal-reliant energy system.

New Zealand’s solarZero says it aims to provide fast, sustained reserves with its virtual power plant of 10,000 household battery systems. Meridian Energy, meanwhile, has secured approval for a 100 MW battery energy storage system – the country’s largest such system to date.

Construction has begun on a 50 MW/50 MWh battery near the outback city of Broken Hill which will be equipped with advanced inverter technology designed to improve system strength in regional New South Wales and support increased levels of renewable energy generation in the area.

Developer Energy Estate has signed a deal with Abergeldie Complex Infrastructure, which has designed vertical manmade caverns for hydrogen storage. Energy Estate co-founder Simon Currie says the partnership is about shoring up projects like its proposed 1.6 GW Hunter Hydrogen Network.

A 10 MW/20 MWh battery energy storage system associated with a Victorian wind farm has be commissioned by Ingeteam at the Queanbeyan substation in the Australian Capital Territory.