Photo: NEOEN
The Victorian Big Battery (VBB) of 212 Tesla Megapacks was registered by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) and can now operate at partial capacity. Once completed, the battery will be able to store enough energy to power over a million homes for half an hour.
The new project, located in Geelong, is the largest battery pack in Australia to date. Once completed, the battery will have a full capacity of 350 MW/450 MWh. This will significantly increase storage and generation capacity in the Victoria energy market. AEMO released two DUIDs (Dispatcher Unit Identifiers) for the project this week for its storage and generation capabilities. VBB will now be allowed to start work before its first "hold point" of around 30MW.
Thrilled to announce Victorian Big Battery is now registered with the Australian Energy Market Operator - just over 200 days since the start of construction ! Thanks to everyone involved ! @AEMO_Media @VicGovAU @LilyDAmbrosioMP @Tesla @AusNetServices @downergroup @UGLPtyLimited pic.twitter.com/OD67kUbjF2
— Neoen Australia (@NEOEN_AU) July 28, 2021
VBB is powered by Tesla Megapack battery modules, which is the best of its kind. Australia's Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has contributed around $160 million to the project. CEFC CEO Ian Learmonth said: “Energy storage supports cost-effective, reliable, clean electricity and is a key component of Australia’s transition to a low emissions economy. This project is a world-class example of how utility-scale batteries can help electricity networks support a higher penetration of renewable energy."
Under the System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS) contract Neoen has signed with AEMO, the VBB will unlock up to an additional 250 MW of peak capacity on the existing Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector. An independent analysis by PWC 1 showed that the SIPS process could bring Victorian consumers a combined benefit of over $220 million over the next 11 years, including savings on energy bills.
© 2021, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.
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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter
About the Author
Eva Fox
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.
