Lighting the way for South Australia
Consolidated Power Projects together with ElectraNet, constructed South Australia’s first certified indoor battery that is connected to the energy grid, with the help of international company, ABB, and battery provider Samsung, in an effort to improve the state’s power security. One of Australia’s most established energy retailers, AGL Energy operates the battery.
The 30-megawatt battery was built in Dalrymple, situated on the Yorke Peninsula, and took more than 30,000 hours to build. The new battery can provide back-up power to more than 4,500 residents in the region for two to three hours until connection to the grid is restored.
Although the project exhibits similarities to the lithium-Ion battery built by tech billionaire Elon Musk in Jamestown, its dimensions are more compact, sitting at a third of the size. It features 2,268 batteries, 6 transformers, 12 power stores and is made up of more than 28 kilometres of cabling.
ElectraNet believed the installation of the battery would be a significant contribution towards the transition to a lower-carbon economy. “The south Australian energy mix and landscape has changed significantly in recent years, and the introduction of this battery on the network is part of our support to transition to a low carbon economy” ElectraNet’s Chief Executive, Steve Masters said (Slessor, 2019).
The facility was developed and constructed in response to South Australia’s historical statewide outage that occurred in September 2016 which left more than 850,000 homes without power. AGL’s general manager, Dave Johnson said the battery would enhance security in South Australian households. “AGL believes energy storage technologies like this will create a bright future for low-cost power from renewables and that’s good news for households and businesses” (Slessor, 2019).
AGL Energy has provided support from their existing wind farm, Wattle Point, and Rooftop Solar towards the running of battery since its completion in April, 2018.
References
Slessor, C. (2019) ‘South Australia’s new big battery unveiled in bid to improve power security’.
