Broken Hill’s Silver City Energy Storage Centre (SCESC), proposed by long-duration energy storage developer Hydrostor, has been approved by the New South Wales Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI).
The approval is a critical step in the development of the Broken Hill-based long-duration storage project, which is set to begin construction later this year.
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The project will provide crucial long duration energy storage capacity and stability to the Broken Hill region and the wider network, with a total capacity of 200MW and 1,600MWh (8 hours of storage duration at full output). Once completed, the new energy storage facility will replace ageing diesel generators, nearing their end-of-life.
Crucially for the region, SCESC will support the community’s energy needs and protect against future blackouts by forming the backbone of a mini-grid, which when fully operative will be able to supply Broken Hill with power for days, if not weeks.
SCESC will draw from existing renewable energy infrastructure in the region (which currently sits idle during an outage) to form an independent energy solution capable of supplying the entire town without needing connection to the NEM. Based on the average power requirements for a household, the project is capable of supplying more than 80,000 homes for a day when it is fully charged.
Hydrostor senior vice president of origination and development Martin Becker says, “We are very pleased to be able to bring this project to the DA stage, and we want to thank the Department for their work in helping us through this rigorous process. The approval marks a significant step along both Hydrostor’s journey in Australia and the adoption of long duration technology nationally.
“Most crucially, we also want to sincerely thank the community of Broken Hill for sharing their thoughts, their questions and their town with us, helping us to bring this positive project to this stage.”
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NSW Minister for Climate Change and Energy Penny Sharpe says, “Hydrostor’s Silver City Energy Storage Centre boosts the reliability of the NSW electricity grid and provides back-up for homes and businesses in the state’s far west in times of planned and unplanned outages.
“Energy storage solutions like this will go a long way to preventing blackouts like the ones the Far West experienced last year. The project will provide construction and ongoing jobs, and will put Broken Hill on the map as a nation leader in renewable energy.”
