South Korea battery manufacturer Kokam has supplied a 30MW lithium-ion battery storage system to support mining operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
Australian electricity retailer Alinta Energy said the system— said to be the country’s largest battery for industrial applications— has been installed at its 178MW gas-fired Newman Power Station. The station supplies power to remote mining operations in the Pilbara region.
Alinta said the battery simulates a 30MW gas turbine to provide spinning reserve for the station. Also, it also delivers frequency control, voltage regulation and reduces peak demand on the gas turbine at the station.
According to Alinta, the battery also boasts a “world first capability to enter a ‘grid forming’ mode in an islanded system (where the system is rated in excess of 40 MW) and power a 220 kV high voltage power system (consisting of 120 km of overhead transmission lines, high voltage substations and an iron ore mine) with up to 30 MW of load, without support from any other generation source”.
In addition, Kokam’s battery has been integrated with Swiss engineering company ABB’s containerised PowerStore microgrid solution— to provide instant power backup to cover the time it takes to startup a new gas turbine in the event of a loss of power.
Alinta Energy’s MD and CEO, Jeff Dimery, said: “For the iron ore industry in the Pilbara, generating hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars’ worth of output an hour, a reliable energy supply is crucial. This battery will let us better handle peak demand periods, increase reliability for our customers and lower our emissions as a result.”
