Electric car maker Tesla is teaming up with French renewable energy company Neoen to build what will be one of the world's largest lithium-ion batteries in Australia to aid the country's transition from coal-fired power to renewable energy.
Hornsdale Power Reserve
The Hornsdale Power Reserve, South Australia
The Victorian Big Battery is to be located in Geelong, south-west of Melbourne and will have a capacity of 450 megawatt hours, and store enough power to provide energy to around half a million homes for an hour.
The Battery will also be used to both modernise and stablise Victoria's energy grid, where the government has a policy of delivering 50% of the state's energy needs from renewable sources by 2030.
“By securing one of the biggest batteries in the world, Victoria is taking a decisive step away from coal-fired power and embracing new technologies that will unlock more renewable energy than ever before,” said Lily D’Ambrosio, Victoria’s environment minister.
The battery will also help plug the gaps caused by the intermittent nature of solar and wind power, with its reserve capacity being connected to the grid when the sun is not shining and wind conditions suboptimal.
The government awarded Neoen the contract to provide system integrity services to the grid and will use Tesla's megapack technology to deliver the 300MW battery by the end of 2021, the company said.
Tesla and Neoen constructed what is currently the world's largest lithium-ion battery in 2017, the Hornsdale Power Reserve, also in Australia, which had an initial output of 100MW and was last year upgraded to 150MW.
It was the first large-scale battery in Australia to provide fast frequency services and inertia - both important elements required for grid stability - to the national network.
Australia has traditionally relied heavily on coal for its energy requirements, which is plentiful in the country, though the most polluting form of energy. In recent years, however, many large plants have shut their doors and coal consumption fell to a 25-year low in 2018-19.
Tim Buckley of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told the FT the decision by Neoen and Tesla was a sign of momentum in Australia’s energy transition: “This is not a slow, orderly, incremental change under way. This is great to see. This technology-driven energy transition is inevitable and accelerating.”
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