en.Wedoany.com Reported - German developer RWE Renewables Australia has officially commissioned the Limondale Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in southwestern New South Wales, with a total storage capacity of at least 400 MWh and the ability to deliver over eight hours of power, making it the longest-duration battery project in Australia.
New South Wales Minister for Climate Change and Energy Penny Sharpe stated at the ribbon-cutting ceremony that she was delighted to inaugurate Australia's first battery project of its kind, which will enable more renewable energy to be integrated into the grid, thereby exerting downward pressure on electricity bills. Sharpe noted that batteries like Limondale mean the state will not waste any solar power and can be powered by renewable energy.
Located near Balranald, 854 kilometers southwest of Sydney, the Limondale BESS is the first project to secure a Long-Term Energy Storage Service Agreement (LTESA) under the New South Wales Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap (EIR). The system consists of 144 containerized, utility-scale lithium-ion Tesla Megapacks in a custom configuration. These Megapacks were pre-assembled at Tesla's Gigafactory in California and delivered to the site, with each unit providing approximately 3.9 to 4.3 MWh of independent storage.
The system uses grid-forming inverters capable of creating its own stable voltage signal rather than tracking the existing grid frequency. This asymmetric charge-discharge system can charge rapidly from the grid or the adjacent 314 MW Limondale Solar Farm at 100 MW, but its discharge rate is capped at 50 MW.
The Limondale BESS was developed by RWE Renewables Australia, with support from Tesla, Melbourne-based clean energy company Beon Energy Solutions, and Australian transmission companies Lumea and Transgrid. RWE Renewables Australia CEO Daniel Belton expressed gratitude at the ceremony to the RWE team, project partners, the New South Wales government, and ASL for their collaboration and commitment, describing the project as one of Australia's most significant battery storage initiatives, representing progress in long-duration energy storage and contributing to building a more reliable and resilient energy system.
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