ARENA has provided $14.84 million in funding to energy giant AGL to construct a 50 MW / 50 MWh lithium-ion large-scale battery storage system at Broken Hill, New South Wales.
According to the official announcement, Fluence and its consortium partner Valmec will supply the batteries for the $41 million project.
Expected to be completed in early 2023, the project will be built on industrial land about 6 kilometres northwest of Broken Hill Airport.
“Large scale energy storage is a priority technology for the Australian Government’s Technology Roadmap, and a key focus area for ARENA. Big batteries are already becoming critical to our electricity system, but we know with grid forming inverters they can provide system strength services traditionally provided by thermal generation,” said ARENA CEO Darren Miller.
“We are particularly interested in seeing how AGL’s Broken Hill battery will utilise and demonstrate advanced inverter technology in a weaker section of the electricity grid. We look forward to working with AGL and Fluence in highlighting the potential of large scale batteries to provide a more cost effective solution to providing system stability as the grid takes on more renewable energy.”
AGL Chief Operating Officer Markus Brokhof dubbed the move as “another step ahead” in AGL’s goal to become Australia’s premier battery orchestrator.
“As Australia moves forward with its energy transition, we know that firming technologies like batteries play an important role in energy storage and supporting the energy supply,” Mr Brokhof said.
“Broken Hill’s unique edge-of-grid environment provides an ideal location for this advanced inverter technology to demonstrate how it can facilitate further penetration of renewable energy generation and add to the stability of the wider electricity network.”
