The Queensland Government has marked another milestone in its Queensland Energy Roadmap 2025, officially launching its second large-scale battery in as many weeks, capable of supplying power to tens of thousands of homes within seconds.
Located onsite at the Tarong power station near Nanango, the project is Stanwell’s first wholly owned battery and will boost the site’s overall capacity to 2.1 gigawatts (GW).
With two-hour storage and dispatch capacity, the Tarong Battery can store excess energy when supply is high, and dispatch back into the grid when it is needed.
It’s just one of the ways the Queensland Government is delivering a better lifestyle through a stronger economy with affordable, reliable and sustainable energy after Labor’s decade of decline.
The project has created 80 full-time jobs and delivered numerous contract opportunities for local suppliers, supporting small businesses across the South Burnett.
Treasurer and Minister for Energy David Janetzki said the 300 megawatt (MW) project has commenced commercial operations and demonstrates the Crisafulli Government’s commitment to improving Queensland’s existing energy assets while building what is needed for the future.
“Batteries for firming and storage are critical to our Energy Roadmap delivering affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for Queensland,” Treasurer Janetzki said.
“This project will strengthen energy reliability and support peak demand, easing network stress and improving overall market efficiency.”
“This financial year alone, our state-owned energy businesses are investing more than $379 million in new large-scale batteries at existing power station sites, and $135 million to install network-scale batteries across the distribution network.”
Michael O’Rourke, Chief Executive Officer at Stanwell, shared that the Tarong project is a major milestone for the government-owned corporation as its first wholly owned battery project.
“The 300 MW battery will store energy during periods of high generation and then release it into the grid during periods of high demand, responding within fractions of a second to provide essential firming capacity and reliability,” Mr O’Rourke said.
“This means we can continue to deliver affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for Queensland, our customers and the National Electricity Market.”
The Tarong battery forms part of Stanwell’s wider 2.8 gigawatt-hour battery firming portfolio, including another giant battery under construction near Rockhampton and a capacity purchase agreement with Quinbrook’s Supernode Stage 3 Battery Energy Storage System at Brendale.
