Shane Rattenbury
One of Australia’s biggest batteries will be housed in the ACT, the government there saying it will contract for the building of up to 250mW renewable energy generation and 20mW/40mWh of battery storage.
That’s expected to help with transport electrification and could power 25,000 homes for two hours.
“The ACT will conduct a renewable electricity ‘reverse auction’ to build new renewable electricity supply, ensure our growing city remains 100% renewable into the next decade, and construct a large-scale battery in the ACT,” climate change and sustainability minister Shane Rattenbury says.
“We’ll soon reach 100% renewable electricity in the ACT, which is a great achievement,” he says.
“But our city will keep growing, and we’ll be transitioning buildings and vehicles to be all electric. This is expected to increase electricity consumption.
“It will also support the ACT electricity grid, helping to manage fluctuations in grid voltage and frequency, remove the need to upgrade network infrastructure, store excess electricity from renewable electricity sources, and provide power to help avoid blackouts during periods of high demand and when large fossil fuel generators fail in heatwave conditions.”
The battery, expected to take two years to build, is likely to be allied with a big solar or wind farm.
The ACT’s reverse auction scheme to reach 100% renewable electricity has already leveraged more than $2 billion of investment into 10 large scale renewable energy projects around Australia, and more than $500 million in the ACT.
Rattenbury says there’s also more to come, with announcements due shortly on the next climate action phase in the ACT.
