Big battery in western Sydney to charge up NSW energy grid
The Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced that it will jointly fund a new large-scale, grid-connected battery located in western Sydney.
On behalf of the Australian Government, ARENA will provide up to $11.5 million in funding to TransGrid to build a 50 MW / 75 MWh large-scale, grid-connected lithium ion battery at its Wallgrove substation in western Sydney.
The NSW Government will also provide $10 million in funding for the battery, as part of their $75 million Emerging Energy Program.
Once built, the $61.9 million Wallgrove Grid Battery, owned and operated by TransGrid, will provide fast frequency response and inertia services to the NSW transmission network.
The Wallgrove Grid Battery will be designed and constructed by Tesla using their Megapacks to demonstrate its innovative synthetic inertia product known as “Virtual Machine Mode”.
The battery will be dispatched by Infigen Energy who will trade the battery in the wholesale market and frequency control ancillary services (FCAS) markets.
ARENA CEO Darren Miller said TransGrid’s Wallgrove Grid Battery aims to prove large scale battery storage is the most effective solution for managing system inertia as Australia transitions to renewable energy.
“Energy storage is one of the priority technologies under the Australian Government’s first Low Emissions Technology Statement released last month, and ARENA has already played a key role in supporting the commercialisation of battery storage.
“Large scale batteries have a big role to play in firming and balancing our electricity system as we move towards a future energy mix with higher penetration of renewable energy,” he said.
In January 2020, the Australian and NSW Governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly fund initiatives that lower prices for consumers, reduce emissions and strengthen grid reliability.
