Edify Energy switches on 150 MW/300 MW of battery storage in Australia

From pv magazine Australia

The Riverina and Darlington Point batteries – currently the biggest such system in New South Wales – have now been completed. Using Tesla’s Megapack technology and grid forming advanced inverters, the total capacity of the project is 150 MW/300 MWh.

Built in the state’s Riverina region, in the southwest, the project is made up of three separate battery facilities:

• 60 MW / 120 MWh Riverina Energy Storage System 1 (output contracted to Shell Energy)
• 65 MW / 130 MWh Riverina Energy Storage System 2 (output contracted to EnergyAustralia)
• 25 MW / 50 MWh Darlington Point Energy Storage System (output contracted to EnergyAustralia with grant funding provided by ARENA and the NSW Government)

As outlined, 100% of the project’s output has been contracted to Shell Energy and EnergyAustralia for the next 10 years. The project has received funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and New South Wales government, which jointly provided AUD 13.1 million ($8.8 million) to support the project’s use of advanced inverters which can increase hosting capacity in the region.

Exactly which inverter brand the project uses is not mentioned, but Edify Energy’s Chief Executive, John Cole, said the inverters operate in virtual synchronous generator mode, meaning they provide vital system strength services previously only afforded by fossil generators.

The project is 90% owned by Federation Asset Management, a fund manager specializing in private equity assets in the energy transition. The remaining 10% is owned by Edify Energy, which has developed and will operate the project.

Federation Asset Management said the Riverina and Darlington Point energy storage systems will be a seed asset for its  Sustainable Australian Real Asset fund (SARA), a pure-play Australian energy transition fund currently open to institutional investors.