Six battery energy storage projects will be fast-tracked to massively bolster the resilience of South Australia’s energy system, more than doubling the state’s large-scale battery storage capacity.
Tenders for long-duration capacity have been awarded under the state’s Firm Energy Reliability Mechanism (FERM), fast-tracking private investment in large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) that will take SA’s battery storage capacity from 1.1GW to 2.5GW.
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The scheme establishes contracts with eligible existing and new long-duration firm capacity power generators, effectively underwriting a portion of their revenue to create financial certainty for market proponents outside of sporadic and infrequent high price events. The availability of this firming generation will be critical for maintaining the reliability of SA’s electricity system.
This initial tender round resulted in six battery energy storage projects being awarded Firm Energy Reliability Mechanism Agreements (FERMAs) totalling 517MW/4,136MWh of dispatchable energy.
The successful projects are:
- 250MW/1000MWh Brinkworth BESS (Akaysha Energy)
- 144MW/576MWh Dartmoor BESS (ZEBRE)
- 200MW/800MWh Goyder Battery Stage 1 (Neoen Australia)
- 200MW/800MWh Goyder Battery Stage 2 (Neoen Australia)
- 270MW/1080MWh Northern Battery (AMPYR Australia)
- 270MW/1080MWh Tungkillo BESS (Iberdrola Australia).
The successful tenderers are required to have their committed output available to dispatch continuously for eight hours when required.
The tender was run independently by ASL, the scheme administrator appointed by the South Australian Government.
SA Energy Minister Tom Koutsantonis said, “Too often we see wholesale prices falling but price spikes for consumers due to isolated events where there is a lack of firming capacity.
“Now we are helping fast-track projects that will more than double the state’s large-scale battery storage capacity and support an estimated $2.2 billion of local investment in new storage projects.
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“These will grow batteries’ contribution to our state’s generation capacity to more than double that of Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland, adding capacity to reach almost three-quarters of South Australia’s all-time peak demand, eclipsing all other major Australian grids.”
