A large scale battery project proposed for Warrenheip is yet to have a definitive launch date.
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Two batteries with a minimum capacity of 20 megawatts, able to power a city the size of Ballarat for four hours, were due to be completed no later than January next year.
But no firm decisions have been made, with the state government continuing commercial discussions and unwilling to confirm whether the project would be ready for the state’s peak summer energy usage. Construction has not yet begun.
The project has had around 100 expressions of interest from prospective companies to adapt large scale battery storage technology in Victoria.
An announcement in July offered up to $25 million funding for the project.
The batteries were earmarked to be built in Western Victoria, in order to enhance grid reliability and economic growth in the area, which is currently experiencing network constraints.
The batteries would store renewable energy which can be harnessed in times of peak demand, reducing the potential for blackouts and insulating consumers against higher energy costs.
“We’re making sure Victoria is equipped with the next generation of energy technologies that will support a more resilient energy system,” a spokesperson for Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said.
There are concerns around Victoria’s ability to avoid power blackouts through summer, with a lack of reserve power and projected heatwaves on the way.
This comes after the closure of the Hazelwood Power Station in March, which contributed nearly a quarter of the state’s energy.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) moved this week to bolster the state’s energy reserve by bringing in diesel generators.
The generators would provide a potential 100MW of strategic power during heatwaves.
The Energy Minister said in a statement measures like this occur on a regular basis when extreme summers are forecast, with the last instance taking place in 2014.
The AEMO Annual Report released in November said the “challenges of high temperatures and peak demand” expected in summer 2017/2018 would need to be tackled aggressively.
Ballarat and other large regional centres were close to experiencing outages earlier this year, with Fairfax Media reporting Victoria was told to prepare for blackouts on February 10, even as the state was busy exporting surplus power to NSW.
Minister D'Ambrosio said the AEMO told her that afternoon, "they were going to risk interrupting electricity supply in western Victoria (Bendigo and Ballarat) to make sure NSW could keep the lights on".