The State Government of Victoria has announced France's Neoen as the winner of its competitive solicitation to award a 250 MW grid services contract through the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO). Neoen will provide these services through a 300 MW Victorian Big Battery which it says is set to become one of the largest energy storage batteries in the world.
Tesla will provide its Megapack technology for the project and the French company will place the 300 MW battery storage facility next to Moorabool Terminal Station in Geelong, Victoria. Network partner on the project is AusNet Services.
The battery will support increased integration of renewables in Victoria through network services as fast frequency control, providing an automatic response in the event of an unexpected outage. AEMO will be able to ensure grid stability with a battery of this capacity. It will also enable the state to modernize and stabilize its grid, a key to reaching its target to have 50% renewables in its electricity mix by 2030. Neoen plans to make the battery operational by the end of 2021.
Neoen says this System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) contract with AEMO enables it to proceed with the next phase of its 300 MW/450 MWh Victorian Big Battery in Geelong, unlocking up to an additional 250 MW of peak capacity on the existing Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI) over the next decade.
"AEMO's competitive procurement and evaluation process attracted significant interest," explained AEMO CEO Audrey Zibelman. "Neoen's solution, developed with Tesla and AusNet Services, on a unit cost basis, was a significantly more cost competitive and attractive market response than other recent major battery developments in Australia."
The battery is estimated to lead to more than 2 AUD in benefits to local households and businesses for every 1 AUD invested, argued Neoen referring to independent analysis. It also pointed out at its 100 MW/129 MWh Hornsdale Power Reserve—supporting a wind farm in South Australia—having delivered over AUD 150 million in savings during the first 2 years of its operation.
"The Victorian Big Battery and the grid support services it will provide heralds a new era for large scale energy storage in Australia. We are fiercely proud to be at the forefront of this vital element of the energy transition," said Chairman and CEO of Neoen, Xavier Barbaro. "We will continue to build on this experience to deliver world-leading solutions that help to shape and transform the grid of the future for the benefit of industry and consumers across Australia and around the globe."
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