A 25MW/50MWh Tesla lithium-ion battery pack has entered service at the 60MW Gannawarra solar PV farm to create the first integrated solar and storage project in the state of Victoria, and the largest in Australia.
The Gannawarra battery— which was developed by Australian renewables company Edify Energy— is capable of powering more than 16,000 homes through two hours of peak demand. EnergyAustralia will operate the combined solar farm and battery facility.
“The ability to store and quickly release energy will help integrate renewables into the system as coal-fired plants progressively retire,” said MD of EnergyAustralia, Catherine Tanna. “These are the new technologies and approaches that will come to underpin our energy system, keeping customers’ lights on and their costs down.”
The Gannawarra battery was financed with AUD25 million (US$18.25m) of grant funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Victorian Government.
A video of the battery’s installation was featured on Tesla’s Twitter feed and can be seen here.
The Gannawarra battery pack isn’t Tesla’s first large-scale battery installation in Australia, following the success of their 100 MW/129 MWh project in South Australia, which was the largest battery system in the world at time of installation.
