South Australian energy storage developer Lunio Energy has energised its first battery, with the Strathalbyn BESS now trading in the National Electricity Market (NEM).
The 5MW/20MWh Strathalbyn BESS is now connected to the grid and responding to the market in real time, storing energy when it is abundant and cheap and returning it to the grid when it is needed most. It is the first of a pipeline of storage projects Lunio is developing across South Australia.
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Lunio Energy founder and CEO Seth Thuraisingham said, “We built the Strathalbyn battery to earn its place in a grid that already runs on renewables for much of the year, and it is now doing that job in the market every day. It is the first asset in a pipeline we are building across South Australia.
“South Australia is leading the nation on renewable generation, well ahead of other states that are only now moving to retire coal. But the hard work is far from done. Storage like ours plays a supporting role, filling the gap so that renewable energy is dependable around the clock and the grid holds stable as more wind and solar come on.
“It is one important piece of a much bigger effort still ahead, and Strathalbyn is our first step.”
The Strathalbyn BESS is using OptiGrid’s OptiBidder platform to optimise energy trading and market bidding.
Using OptiBidder, the Strathalbyn battery will respond to market signals by optimising charge and discharge decisions, submitting bids across Contingency FCAS markets, and capturing value from price volatility and system needs.
Thuraisingham said, “We selected OptiGrid to optimise trading of the Strathalbyn battery after OptiBidder showed strong results on the capture rate through our evaluation.
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“Their team also brought real depth on the NEM and how batteries operate in South Australia, which gave us confidence through the investment decision. With the battery now live, OptiBidder is the engine that turns market volatility into revenue for the asset.”
