Macquarie, Engie join hands to install 150-MW/150-MWh battery in Victoria

French utility Engie SA (EPA:ENGI) and Macquarie Group Ltd’s (ASX:MQG) Green Investment Group (GIG) will jointly invest in a 150-MW/150-MWh battery storage project at the site of a former coal-fired complex in Victoria.

The project is set to create Australia’s largest privately funded grid-connected battery, energy storage specialist Fluence said on Wednesday. The US firm, formed by Siemens AG (ETR:SIE) and AES Corp (NYSE:AES), has been selected as full turnkey project contractor to build, operate and maintain the facility for over 20 years.

The so-called Hazelwood Battery Energy Storage System is planned to be built at the site of Engie’s Hazelwood brown coal generator in the Latrobe Valley, which ceased operations in 2017. Once operational, it will be able to store the equivalent of an hour of electricity produced by the rooftop solar arrays of 30,000 homes.

The battery will connect to the existing network infrastructure. With its construction being already in progress, it is scheduled to be switched on by November 2022. The system will be equipped with Fluence’s Gridstack technology to provide flexible power capacity and will also participate in frequency control ancillary service markets.

“The battery’s innovative design and the Hazelwood site’s unique location provide the flexibility to scale up storage capacity quickly and cost-effectively [..],” the partners say.

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