Western Australia, home to one of the biggest isolated grids in the world, continues to flex its energy storage muscle this week, with the approval of a huge six-hour big battery and a brand new proposal for an eight-hour battery kicking off its development application process.
The up to 800 megawatt (MW) and 4,800 megwatt-hour (MWh) Red Gully battery energy storage system (BESS) proposed for construction in the Shire of Gingin, around an hour’s drive north of Perth, was this week given the green light to go ahead by the Regional Development Assessment Panel.
The BESS, which stands to be one of the biggest in the state – and the country – is proposed for construction in two stages by Perth-based developer BLT Energy, a relatively new player in the sector staffed by former investment bankers.
BLT Energy says the first phase of construction will install a BESS with up to 400 MW of power and 2,400 MWh of storage on the state’s main grid, the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), “helping to store surplus renewable energy and discharge it when needed most.”
According to the project’s environmental assessment report, the battery will be built on land that has historically been used for cropping and grazing, and adjacent to Western Power’s Regans Terminal, where it will complement the development of Clean Energy Link – North transmission upgrade.
