The Federal Government, in collaboration with state authorities, has announced support for six big batteries in Victoria and South Australia.
This initiative, part of the Albanese Government’s renewable energy plan, aims to provide clean, affordable, and reliable energy to power one million homes by 2027.
According to the Federal Government, the selected projects, chosen from over 100 bids in a pilot tender, will feature batteries capable of running for up to four hours.
These batteries will store and distribute renewable energy, particularly from rooftop and large-scale solar installations.
The six successful projects include:
- The Wooreen 350 MW energy storage system in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley
- The Springvale Energy Hub 115 MW battery system in south-eastern Melbourne
- The Limestone Coast West 250 MW lithium-ion battery near Mount Gambier, South Australia
- The Solar River battery storage system north of Adelaide
- The Clements Gap 60 MW battery system in South Australia’s mid-north
- The Hallett 50 MW battery system in Canowie, South Australia
These projects are being underwritten through the Capacity Investment Scheme, which is crucial for ensuring affordable and reliable energy as older coal plants retire.
The scheme aims to transform Australia’s energy system to achieve 82 per cent renewable energy, supported by gas, storage, and improved transmission.
Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Lily D’Ambrosio, said this investment from the Commonwealth for additional storage projects in Gippsland and south-east Melbourne will help accelerate the build of renewable energy storage across our state.
“Energy storage capacity is critical to keeping power prices down by storing cheap renewable energy when it’s abundant and dispatching back into the grid when it’s needed most,” she said.
“More renewable energy and storage capacity is critical to meeting our target of 95 per cent renewables by 2035 and energy storage targets of at least 2.6 gigawatts by 2030 and 6.3 gigawatts by 2035.”
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