The completion of repairs to one of its three transformers has allowed Australia’s most powerful battery to reach full storage capacity, although it is not yet in a position to deliver the entirety of its “shock absorber” contract.
Akaysha Energy says the Waratah Super Battery, located at the site of the demolished Munmoreah coal fired power station in NSW, is now operating at 700 megawatts (MW), or 82 per cent of its total rated capacity of 850 MW, and at 1680 megawatt hours (MWh), which is its full rated storage capacity.
The boost in output – from previous operating levels of around 400 MW – follows the successful return to service of one of the two transformers damaged in a “catastrophic” incident last October when the project was in the final stages of its commissioning process.
One of the transformers, however, was effectively destroyed in that incident and the Waratah battery will not reach its full rated capacity until later in the year when a new transformer is delivered and installed at the site.
That means that Waratah will continue to deliver just half of its System Integrity Protection Scheme (Sips) contract which requires it to act as a kind of giant “shock absorber” for the grid, allowing transmission lines feeding into major demand centres to operate at greater capacity.
