The Victorian government and Italian clean technology company Energy Dome have announced plans to develop Australia’s first long-duration compressed carbon dioxide battery energy storage facility in the heart of the state’s coal country.
Victoria’s State Electricity Commission (SEC) will partner with Milan-headquartered battery developer Energy Dome to deploy a 10-hour duration compressed carbon dioxide (CO2) battery energy storage system near Morwell in the Latrobe Valley.
The project, to be built as part of a new 143-hectare energy innovation precinct to be established adjacent to the decommissioned coal-fired Hazelwood power station, will feature a 20 MW / 200 MWh compressed CO2 battery capable of running continuously for 10 hours. Once built, the system will be Victoria’s first long-duration energy storage (LDES) facility – with more than double the duration of any battery operating in the state today – and Australia’s first commercial compressed CO2 battery.
The SEC said while Australia has seen a proliferation of battery energy storage in recent years, much of this has focused on shorter-duration technologies, providing two to four hours of energy storage to support the grid during peak demand periods.
