The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced that it will jointly fund the development of a 50 MW/75 MWh grid-connected lithium ion battery project at its Wallgrove substation in western Sydney. On behalf of the Australian government, ARENA will provide up to $11.5 million in funding to TransGrid to build this project. TransGrid will own and operate this project. The project will be designed and constructed by Tesla using their Megapacks and the battery will be dispatched by Infigen Energy.
The Government of New South Wales will also provide $10 million funding for the battery project, as part of their $75 million Emerging Energy Program. The entire project is expected to be set up at an investment of $61.9 million. Once commissioned, the battery project is expected to provide fast frequency response and inertia services to the New South Wales transmission network.
“Large-scale batteries have a big role to play in firming and balancing our electricity system as we move towards a future energy mix with higher penetration of renewable energy,” said Darren Miller, CEO, ARENA.
In January 2020, the Australian government and the Government of New South Wales signed a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly fund initiatives that lower electricity prices for consumers, reduce emissions and strengthen grid reliability.
