Another BESS System to Be Built in Australia

The Australian energy group Stanwell Corp has started constructing the largest energy storage facility in Queensland. The battery will have a capacity of 300 MW and 1,200 MWh.

BESS Storage on Former Coal Power Plant Site

Building BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) facilities requires significant space, making repurposing former coal power plant sites an increasingly popular option. A prime example is Stanwell Corp’s project, which will be located on the site of a decommissioned coal power plant near Rockhampton. The investment is estimated at approximately 747 million Australian dollars (around 500 million USD), with 60% of the funding provided by the Queensland Government’s Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Fund.

Stanwell’s Multi-Faceted Strategy

The new Queensland energy storage system will feature 324 Tesla Megapack 2XL lithium-ion units, the same technology used in the Bumpers Battery Energy Storage System. This allows for energy storage of up to four hours, with the ability to supply it back to the grid during peak demand. The batteries will be installed by the state-owned energy company Yurika, with operations set to begin in mid-2027.

The Rockhampton BESS is just one of Stanwell Corp’s ongoing projects. Recently, the company announced that its Tarong Battery project in Queensland, with a capacity of 300 MW/600 MWh, has reached its halfway point. Tesla technology is also being used for this initiative, which is scheduled to go online by mid-2025. Construction began in the summer of last year.

Source: renewablesnow.com