ARENA to provide $25 million to jointly fund Victoria’s first large-scale, grid-connected batteries
Summary
The Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced it will match the $25 million by the Victorian Government to jointly fund Victorias first two large-scale, grid-connected batteries as part of the Victorian energy storage initiative.The $50 million in funding will see the rollout of two battery projects which will together deliver 55 MW of power and can provide approximately 80 MWh of energy storage capacity.The lithium-ion batteries are to be located at the Gannawarra solar farm near Kerang, and in Warrenheip, Ballarat. Together, these projects will help ease constraints on transmission lines in Western Victoria that currently curtail the output of existing wind and solar farms and will also help to support future renewable generation.ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said that this announcement places Australia as a world-leader in battery storage, following grid-scale batteries in South Australia.ARENA is excited to be demonstrating the capabilities that these new batteries will provide in securing reliable electricity for western Victoria and to facilitate the Victorias transition to renewable energy, Mr Frischknecht said.Battery storage will play a crucial role in the future energy mix, alongside other forms of storage and in conjunction with variable renewables and demand management, he said.In total, $25 million will be provided to a consortia led by Spotless Sustainability Services to build a 30 MW / 30 MWh large-scale, grid-connected battery located at the Ballarat terminal station. Spotless is pleased to take a lead role to introduce renewable energy solutions. Weve brought together leading utilities experience and proven energy storage technology to deliver this Victorian first.Edify Energy CEO John Cole said: We are very proud to have designed and delivered the first combined utility scale solar and storage facility in Victoria. It is unprecedented in Australia at this scale and is among the largest in the world.The team has worked tirelessly to overcome many regulatory, technical and commercial challenges and create a very cool project one that can deploy solar power at night.