The Victorian Big Battery project is now officially live. The project is Australia’s largest battery and will provide stability in electric demand on the grid during the summer months.
The Big Battery contains 300 megawatts (MW) of power through 212 Tesla Megapacks.
We've just turned on the Southern Hemisphere's biggest battery.
It’s going to help us store excess wind and solar energy – and that will mean cheaper bills, too.
Clean energy is the future – and the Big Battery is just another way we're making it work for Victoria pic.twitter.com/GHwUy36Tsk
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) December 8, 2021
The project is a vital part of the State of Victoria’s goal to reduce emissions by 50%. The project will hold enough reserve power to power over 500,000 homes for one hour.
However, the battery is not supposed to provide backup power. Instead, the project will help during peak demand periods to avoid blackouts.
The project is leveraging both Tesla hardware and their energy trading software Autobidder. With Autobidder, entities can buy and sell power into the grid. The software allows companies to monetize battery assets in real-time autonomously.
Moreover, this software allows Neoen Australia, the projects lead, to beat out legacy power generation to provide power to the grid.
The location of the Victorian Big Battery is near the existing Moorabool Terminal Station. Located almost 13 kilometres northwest of Geelong, the project can connect into an existing high voltage transmission hub for easy access to the hub.
The Victorian Big Battery is the second battery project for Neoen. Their first project is located in Hornsdale, South Australia.
