Queensland’s biggest battery, the Wandoan South Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project, is nearing completion as Powerlink’s transmission network gets into the final stage.
Queensland Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen, Mick de Brenni, said Powerlink was working closely with Vena Energy to support their Wandoan South (BESS) project.
“Large-scale battery storage completely changes the game for how our electricity system operates,” Mr de Brenni said.
“The $120 million Wandoan BESS project is the first to connect a large-scale battery directly to the state’s grid, supporting 23 jobs while delivering cleaner, cheaper and reliable energy back to Queenslanders even when the sun isn’t shining.
“The battery will have the capacity to power up to 57,000 homes every year, and store 150mWh of energy, so it’s around 25 times the capacity of the largest battery currently operating in Queensland.”
Powerlink Chief Executive, Paul Simshauser, said project works are expected to be completed in the coming months.
“A kilometre of underground transmission cable is being installed to safely and efficiently transfer stored battery power into the grid from the existing Wandoan South Substation,” Mr Simshauser said.
“Works at the substation are being completed over various stages to upgrade an existing substation bay so we can accommodate the new battery connection.
“The connection works also involve highly specialised construction methods, so it’s a game-changing project on all fronts for us.”
The claim of powering up to 57,000 homes every year is deliberately misleading. A battery with a storage capacity of 150MWh would only power about 20-25 medium size houses in a year