Melbourne will be home to one of Australia’s largest grid-scale BESS (battery energy storage systems) as part of a new renewable energy hub in the city’s west.
Delivered by Equis Australia and government-owned SEC, the $1.1 billion hub will be a cornerstone of Victoria’s renewable energy infrastructure, with the 600MW BESS capable of powering 200,000 homes during evening peak demand.
All three battery systems comprising the hub’s BESS are good to go, having been successfully registered with the grid in parallel. The hub is located where Victoria’s critical transmission routes join, meaning it can support Melbourne’s metropolitan load as well as three Victorian renewable energy zones.
“Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub is our first project to go live in Australia and the Equis team have delivered a world-leading project on schedule and on budget,” Equis managing director David Russell said.
“Our engineers designed a world-first underground 500kV cable connecting a BESS into existing gas-insulated grid infrastructure, (while) our investment team secured a landmark $400m debt package.
“It has been impressive to watch the project take shape from Notice to Proceed in December 2023, (and the) installation of 444 Tesla megapacks and three Toshiba 500kV high-voltage transformers.”
Russell said the introduction of the Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub demonstrated what can come from collaboration.
“Today’s milestone shows that when industry and government work together, we can deliver complex, large-scale infrastructure that strengthens the grid, creates jobs, and helps reduce power prices for consumers,” he said.
More than 1200 people worked on the build of the renewable energy hub, including more than 70 trainees and apprentices. This enabled the project to be finished on schedule after construction commenced last year.
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