The largest battery energy storage system in New South Wales, Australia, powered by Tesla Megapacks, has come online. The 150MW/300MWh system will store energy from a nearby solar power plant.
NSW’s newest battery is now fully operational. The 150 megawatt (MW) / 300 megawatt-hour (MWh) Tesla system is built by Edify Energy and Federation Asset Management from Megapack units. The Riverina and Darlington Point Energy Storage Systems consist of three independent units, contracted with Shell Energy and EnergyAustralia for the next decade.
NEWS: $125 million @Tesla Megapack battery in New South Wales, Australia is now fully operational.
The new battery will provide grid stabilization services. 150 MW/300 MWh. pic.twitter.com/FF4A15Yso0
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) October 10, 2023
The battery lives next door to Edify’s 275 MW (AC) Darlington Solar Farm, which launched in 2020 with two synchronous condensers to stabilize its output into a particularly weak part of the grid. The new battery will provide grid stabilization services using Tesla’s inverter technology, which can operate in a “virtual synchronous generator” mode, simulating the synchronous nature of traditional fossil fuel and hydroelectric generators.
“As the nation’s aging coal plants retire, the need for energy storage is becoming ever more pressing,” said Stephen Panizza, co-founder and head of renewable energy at Federation Asset Management.
“Advanced grid-forming batteries like the Riverina BESS are critical to extracting the maximum capacity from our existing grid infrastructure, allowing timely integration of additional wind and solar generation into the NEM while our grid infrastructure is upgraded.
“Advanced inverter technologies are a superior solution to challenges in the grid than legacy systems.”
EnergyAustralia head of portfolio development Daniel Nugent said it will use the battery to support summer demand peaks.
“Access to the Riverina and Darlington Point system adds to EnergyAustralia’s growing portfolio of renewable firming investments and forms part of our plan to deploy over $5 billion in capital with partners in energy storage and renewables firming initiatives,” he said.
“The Riverina and Darlington Point system project and the progress we are making with bringing our Wooreen battery project to financial close and accelerating the development of the Mt Piper battery project demonstrates the contribution we are making to the clean energy transition and our commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050.”
