AGL and ARENA lock in Broken Hill battery with $41m investment decision
Power generator and retailer AGL and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) have announced a final investment decision of AUS$41 million (USD$55 million) for the Broken Hill battery, designed to strengthen the grid.
The 50MW/50MWh battery will be supplied by Fluence, a global energy storage technology and services company, and its consortium partner infrastructure services group Valmec.
The Broken Hill battery will include advanced inverter technology and provide system strength services in weak parts of the grid. It is part of AGL’s planned 850MW grid-scale battery network currently under development.
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AGL Chief Operating Officer, Markus Brokhof commented on the promise of the Broken Hill battery in a statement, “As Australia moves forward with its energy transition, we know that firming technologies like batteries play an important role in energy storage and supporting renewable energy supply.
“Broken Hill’s unique edge-of-grid environment provides an ideal location for this advanced inverter technology to demonstrate how it can facilitate further penetration of renewable energy generation and add to the stability of the wider electricity network.”
Brokhof elaborated on how the project’s construction will generate new job opportunities. There will be up to 50 positions provided to engineers, tradespeople and contractors.
Strengthening the grid
ARENA CEO Darren Miller also commented on the announcement. He emphasized the capabilities of batteries to strengthen the grid as more renewables come online.
“Energy storage has been identified as a key priority technology under the Australian Government’s Low Emissions Technology Statement. We are particularly interested in seeing how AGL’s Broken Hill battery will utilise and demonstrate advanced inverter technology in a weaker section of the energy grid,” Miller said.
Miller went on to highlight the potential of large-scale batteries in providing cheaper solutions for system stability needed with the influx of renewables onto the grid.
Fluence General Manager for Australia, Aaron McCann stated how this is the first project Fluence is delivering to AGL within the framework agreement they announced in January 2021.
“We are excited to support AGL and ARENA to bring Australia’s energy transition to a new level by offering market-leading functionality with advanced grid-forming inverters,” McCann stated.
“Broken Hill battery’s full power occurs instantaneously to quickly respond to large changes in voltage and/or frequency, which is the fastest response of all battery energy storage systems currently available in the market.”
