Neoen has been awarded a 250 MW grid services contract by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
The services will be provided by Neoen’s future 300 MW Victorian Big Battery, set to become one of the largest batteries in the world.
The battery storage facility will be located next to Moorabool Terminal Station in Geelong, Victoria. It will be delivered in collaboration with Tesla, using its Megapack technology, and network partner AusNet Services.
This System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) contract with AEMO will run until 2032 and is the result of the SIPS 2020 procurement process initiated by the Victorian Government.
It will unlock up to an additional 250 MW of peak capacity on the existing Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI) over the next decade of Australian summers.
Under the contract, the battery will provide an automatic response in the event of an unexpected network outage, providing AEMO with an additional means of ensuring grid stability.
Batteries are genuinely well suited to perform this service because they can respond in a fraction of a second.
The battery will also participate in the National Electricity Market and support increased penetration of renewables in Victoria through network services such as fast frequency control.
The Victorian Big Battery will help to modernise and stabilise the grid in Victoria and will be instrumental in helping the State reach its objective of 50 per cent renewables by 2030.
The battery, which is targeted to be operational by the end of 2021, will also deliver a significant economic boost to the Geelong region, creating over 80 construction jobs and six full time permanent jobs.
Victorian Minister for Energy, Lily D’Ambrosia, said the state is takinga decisive step away from coal-fired power and embracing new technologies that will unlock more renewable energy than ever before.
Neoen chair and CEO, Xavier Barbaro, said the big battery and the grid support services it will provide heralds a new era for large scale energy storage in Australia.
“We are fiercely proud to be at the forefront of this vital element of the energy transition,” he said.