NSW bankrolls Darlington Point big battery for Shell and Edify Energy
NSW will back the development of a giant battery to ease pressure once the Liddell coal plants closes in the 2022-23 summer.
NSW will back the development of a giant battery to ease pressure once the Liddell coal plants closes in the 2022-23 summer as part of a $3.2 billion, decade-long electricity supply deal with Shell and Edify Energy to supply the state’s power needs.
The companies will build a 100 megawatt, 200 megawatt hour battery alongside the Darlington Point solar farm near Griffith in western NSW, as part of a broader 10-year power contract to power schools, hospitals and government buildings. The battery is due to start in early 2023, easing grid pressures once Liddell exits.
Shell’s ERM Power, acquired by the energy giant in 2019, already held the NSW government electricity contract, with Shell signing a long-term services agreement to access operational rights to a 60MW, 120MWh portion of the battery.
The move underlines the state’s push to renewables and storage solutions such as batteries ahead of the closure of Liddell and a broader shift away from coal-fired power as more of the ageing plants start to close in the next decade.
“The NSW Government is the second biggest energy customer in the state and we are using our purchasing power to leverage new dispatchable capacity to help power our schools, hospitals, traffic lights and tunnels,” NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean said.
“This battery will help to keep the lights on and keep costs down during peak energy periods, and support more renewable energy to come online.”
The NSW government has made batteries a key plank of its plan to attract $32 billion in private investment over the next decade focused on 12 gigawatts of renewable generation and 2GW of long duration storage.
Origin Energy plans to develop a giant 700MW battery at Eraring, Australia’s largest coal-fired power station, while France’s Neoen is preparing a 500MW battery stack dubbed the Great Western Battery Project at Wallerawang, home to the former EnergyAustralia coal station which has now been decommissioned.
Edify said the move will support the future of a “brave new world” of renewables in south-western NSW.
“The advantages of large-scale batteries in support of energy firming in our brave new world of renewables is well documented and supported,” Edify chief executive John Cole said.
“Energy storage is fast becoming a valued capacity solution for the National Electricity Market, given its fast and precise response. The uncertainties in this growing technology class are reducing and with it the barriers to acceptance from market and network participants.”
Shell is best known for oil and gas but is shifting investment to lower-carbon sources to reflect its prediction the energy system will come to rely much more on electricity rather than fossil fuels for its supply needs.
Australia has been identified as one of six target markets where Shell will look to create an integrated electricity supply business with the potential to scoop up a “mass market” customer base through deal-making.
By 2035 nearly 90 per cent of power demand could be met by renewable generation during periods through the day. However, that will require up to 50 gigawatts of large-scale solar and wind to be added under the most aggressive plan to cut emissions, representing nearly all the current capacity of the market to be built in just two decades.
Up to 19 gigawatts of “firmed” dispatchable resources such as gas, pumped hydro and batteries will be required in the next two decades to back up renewables.
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