Energy

Australia plans world's biggest battery (again), at 1.2 gigawatts

A crude mockup of the 1.2-gigawatt power grid battery planned for Australia's Hunter Valley
CEP Energy
A crude mockup of the 1.2-gigawatt power grid battery planned for Australia's Hunter Valley
CEP Energy

Australia has clearly been motivated by the huge success of the giant 150-megawatt Tesla battery built in South Australia in 2017. In November, neighboring state Victoria announced a 300-megawatt plant to go live at the end of this year, and now, a new project in New South Wales will dwarf both these projects combined.

CEP Energy has just announced the largest battery ever proposed. At 1.2 gigawatts, it sets a new global benchmark – albeit one that's sure to be eclipsed shortly by something bigger as the environmental and cost-saving benefits of these giant grid-scale batteries become better understood.

Not only do these batteries soak up and release excess renewable energy generated out of sync with demand, they're terrific for smoothing out unexpected spikes in power demand. They're profitable for the businesses that run them, and they bring down power bills for consumers.

In the case of this particular battery, there seems to be a political edge to it too. CEP Energy is chaired, according to Renew Economy, by former NSW premier Morris Iemma, whose left-leaning Labor party is pushing sustainable energy projects in opposition to current Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his right-leaning Liberal/National coalition, who seem keen to cling to fossil fuels.

The Kurri Kurri location of this 1.2-gigawatt battery project is right where the Morrison Government has been pushing for new coal and gas generator projects. A chess game in motion.

The CEP plant is expected to go online in stages, starting operations in 2023. The battery supplier has not yet been selected. Any bets on which jurisdictions might be planning something even bigger around the world?

Source: CEP Energy

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4 comments
Tommo
Unbelievably (for me anyway) I can honestly see the USA making great inroads with this type of tech - Now the Biden administration has begun to roll out its thoughts on green energy, especially when job creation is used as an advantage over and above the environmental benefits, I can see huge investment in wind, solar and battery tech happening sometime soon.
guzmanchinky
Why couldn't they make it just a tiny bit bigger, say another .01 gigawatts, and pull an excellent "Back to the Future" reference?!?
Spud Murphy
What a missed opportunity, it could have been 1.21GW and called the "Back to the future" battery or maybe "The McFly power reserve".
blucrab
just to remember - EXON HAD THE 1ST LITHIUM ION BATTERY IN 1972 - why did this hide it?
where should we be w/o the big boys hoarding info - THIS WAS REVEALED AT A QUANTUM SCAPE MEETING- QS IS A PLAYER OF SORTS - BUT THE WHOLE 'LI' IS GOING INTO THE TRILLIONS... can solar panels get over 30% ?