Tesla will partner with the French renewable energy company, Neoen, again to build one of the world’s largest lithium-ion batteries in Australia.
Tesla is looking to replicate the success seen in the “Big Tesla Battery” project in South Australia which recently added 50 MW/64.5 MWh of capacity at the site. It originally had a capacity of 100 MW/129 MWh with Tesla Powerpacks until the expansion, which brought the total to 150 MW/193.5 MWh. In its first year in operation, it was estimated to have saved a massive $40 million making it a huge success for South Australia.
Now, Tesla has partnered with Neoen again to deploy a 300 MW/450 MWh in Victoria. A new battery system that is expected to double the “Big Tesla Battery” in South Australia.
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Neoen will own and operate the battery system, which they will purchase from Tesla. The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has reserved a large capacity from the project: “Under the contract, AEMO will reserve 250 megawatts (MW) from Neoen’s 300 MW battery to operate in a control scheme to increase the capability of the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI) and respond to unexpected network outages in Victoria from November 2021.”
Audrey Zibelman, AEMO Managing Director and CEO commented: “AEMO’s competitive procurement and evaluation process attracted significant interest and a positive outcome for Victorians. Neoen’s solution, developed with Tesla and AusNet Services, on a unit cost basis, was a significantly more cost competitive and attractive market response than other major battery developments in Australia,”
Neoen and Tesla are aiming for the project to be operational by the end of 2021.