Major battery storage facility plans for CQ site

It would be the first of the facilities in Queensland

A render of what the megapack battery storage station would look like for the Bouldercombe site.

A Queensland first large-scale battery energy storage system is poised to be built in the small town of Bouldercombe, near Rockhampton.

The battery storage facility takes electricity from the grid in periods of low demand and feeds it back into the grid in high demand.

The facility would have a battery storage capacity of up to 100MW/200MWh (two hours depth).

Genex Power Limited is behind the project and plans to co-locate it on Powerlink's Bouldercombe Substation on the Burnett Highway.

The development application was submitted to Rockhampton Regional Council this month by AECOM Australia.

The application describes a battery storage facility as a "premises to store energy from a transmission grid or supply network into a commercial battery energy storage system".

It was noted studies had shown the National Electricity Market required upgrades to transmission infrastructure to cope with the variable nature of inverter based resources (wind and solar projects).

A battery energy storage system responds to this network challenge as it is able to provide frequency control ancillary services.

The facility would be a megapack system, rechargeable lithium-ion battery modules in an enclosure with integrated bi-directional power conversion system.

The building footprint would be 60m x 90m.

It is proposed the project would be split into two stages.

On site construction is estimated to take 20 weeks with a workforce of 50 people.

Testing and commissioning of the facility would take 12 weeks.

The maintenance workforce will consist of about 10 people.

Noise has been considered in the application and has been mitigated with cooling fans.

The closest residential property is more than 500 metres south on Childs Avenue.

The application is now awaiting development approval.