The transformation of the former Hazelwood coal-fired power station in Victoria has begun. French renewable energy giant Engie announced that the construction of a 150 MW/150 MWh battery energy storage system has begun on site.
The No. 1 boiler room of the former Hazelwood Power Station was demolished in October.
As energy storage will play a key role in Australia’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, Engie worked with the green investment department of the asset management company Macquarie Group to build a large 150 MW/150 MWh battery at the site of the former Hazelwood Power Station Latrobe Valley in Victoria.
Engie announced on Wednesday that the construction of the Hazelwood Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) has begun, the network connection agreement is in place, and the battery is scheduled to be put into use in November 2022.
The project is expected to cost US$150 million, funded by the Green Investment Group (GIG) of Engie and Macquarie, and will be constructed, operated and maintained by Fluence Energy, a joint venture of the German Electronics Group. Siemens and American power company AES signed a 20-year contract.
The battery will be connected to the existing network infrastructure and will provide one hour of energy storage, but it is expected that the facility will be expanded in the future, and the former power station site can use 1.6 GW of dormant transmission capacity.
Engie and Macquarie stated that the first phase of the battery design was built on the site of the former Hazelwood coal-fired generator, which was closed in 2017. The properties of the site provide flexibility for expanding storage "quickly and cost-effectively" The ability to meet future network and market needs.
The two companies said that Hazelwood batteries will participate in the Frequency Control Assisted Services (FCAS) market, provide stability to the increasingly renewable energy grid, and play a key role in accelerating the construction of solar and wind energy resources.
The two companies said in a statement: "The Hazelwood battery energy storage system...will play a key role in increasing Victoria's renewable energy capacity while providing the state with further grid stability."
Greg Callman, GIG's global head of energy technology, said it will support the transition to green energy and help "ensure that the electricity network is resilient, reliable and flexible."
This project will be the first in Australia to use Fluence's Gridstack battery system, which contains 342 modular Fluence Cubes, which is a standardized enclosure that can accommodate battery modules as well as inverters, transformers, switchgear and other factory equipment And integrated edge control software.
The system will be combined with Fluence's AI-enabled IQ application to optimize Hazelwood battery capacity bids in the National Electricity Market (NEM).
"Hazelwood batteries will be the latest generation of Fluence technology, supported by our fast-growing team in Victoria and the most widely adopted automated trading platform in Australia today," said Aaron McCann, general manager of Fluence Australia.
The project is built on Engie's Australian investment portfolio, which includes 1.1 GW of operating gas-fired power plants, 165 MW of operating wind farms, and 2 GW of solar, wind, and large-scale battery pipelines under development.
The Hazelwood battery is the latest practical battery to be launched in Latrobe Valley. AGL announced last week that it has obtained approval to develop a 200 MW/800 MWh energy storage system at its coal-fired Loy Yang power station.
Earlier this year, EnergyAustralia announced plans to build a 4-hour 350 MW large battery at the Yaloourn coal-fired power station, which will be decommissioned in mid-2028.
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