| THE AYALA WAY

Vol 6 No 20

"There’s a lot of attention worldwide on the battery storage market in Australia and so we’re very happy to be making a positive contribution here on such an important project. [...] We’re very pleased to be working with ACEN Australia, its First Nations partners, and the Uralla community on the project."

LUCAS SADLER
Energy Vault Vice President of Sales Asia

Energy Vault VP of Sales Asia Lucas Sadler (left) and California-based CEO Rob Piconi (second from right) tour New England Solar with ACEN Australia NES Project Director Sarah Donnan and Head of Construction and Engineering Tim Greenaway prior to the New England BESS milestone celebration.

CREATE VALUE TOGETHER

Energy Vault CEO Visits New England Solar Project Site

Construction work has started on the NSW New England region’s first large-scale battery energy storage system, located on site at ACEN Australia’s 936 MWdc (720 MWac) New England Solar project.

The 200 MW/2 hour battery energy storage system (BESS) is the first of two planned systems being built by leading international energy storage specialist Energy Vault and will be able to provide energy on demand to customers in both New South Wales and Queensland. It is the first large-scale battery storage project to begin construction with the support of the NSW Government’s Emerging Energy Program.

The 400-megawatt-hour storage project will also involve the integration of advanced grid-forming inverters to provide system strength, stability, and network security services.

Energy Vault CEO and Chairman Robert Piconi joined the team from New England Solar and ACEN Australia's Head of Construction and Engineering, Tim Greenaway, to inspect the battery site. This is the US-based company's first project to begin construction in Australia.

“This is the first large-scale battery storage project to be built in New England, so this is a great milestone for the region and the National Electricity Market,” added Greenaway. “Our geotechnical and design work is almost complete and work to install the electrical infrastructure to connect the battery is well underway. We expect the civil and base electrical work for the BESS to begin over the next month or two, ready for the delivery of the battery modules in [the] second half of the year."

Read the full story at ACENRenewables.com.