Tesla has scored another huge win as the Hornsdale Power Reserve, aka “Tesla big battery,” gains crucial approval. It is the first massive battery project to provide grid-scale inertia services.
Tesla also won a 100 MW/200 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in Queensland using Megapacks.
Renew Economy reports that the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) gave the approval for Hornsdale, after about two years of trials. The project will help Australia get closer to its goal of a 100 percent renewable energy grid with no coal or gas-powered electricity generating plants.
The Hornsdale battery is owned by Neoen, with a production capacity of 150 MW/193 MWh. It will serve as an advanced or grid-forming inverter. This type of inverter replaces thermal generators that usually provide many critical grid services. However, using batteries requires extensive testing because they operate entirely differently.
According to AEMO, transitioning to renewable energy depends greatly on grid-forming inverters.
The Hornsdale battery project employs virtual machine mode technology developed by Tesla. The same technology will be used at three more battery installations; Wallgrove in New South Wales, Broken Hill site, and Darlington Point. Others will join, and they will all be financed by a $100 million grant spearheaded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.
South Australia is a global leader in terms of wind and solar energy, with the two sources accounting for more than 64 percent of the region’s electricity in the last 12 months.
Hornsdale will produce about 2,000 MW of equivalent inertia, affecting more than 1.7 million people and 150,000 businesses.
The Victorian Big Battery project went live last December in the State of Victoria, using 212 Megapack batteries.
