- Wärtsilä will supply a 250MWh energy storage system in Australia.
- This will be the second biggest in the country.
- The system is expected to become operational in 2023.
The Finnish technology group Wärtsilä is set to deploy a battery energy storage system (BESS) for AGL Energy Limited, an Australian integrated energy company. Wärtsilä will install the 250MW/250MWh system at Torrens Island in South Australia. The system will be AGL’s first utility-scale BESS project and the second biggest in Australia. The system will support a range of generation sources, including thermal and renewable sources.
The system will operate at first in a grid-following mode which will be switched later to grid-forming mode (virtual synchronous generation–VSG), making it the largest energy storage solution capable of operating in this mode. This will enable very fast response times, future-proofing the Torrens Island facility. The system is expected to become operational in the early part of 2023.
The over €100 million order is the first to be placed since Wärtsilä and AGL signed a framework agreement for the supply of energy storage projects last year. AGL wants to deploy about 1GW of utility-scale energy storage capacity across Australia. The company believes that energy storage will play a vital role in enhancing the Australian energy sector’s transition to clean energy.
AGL’s COO, Markus Brokhof, stated: “AGL and Wärtsilä both share a vision to bring cleaner sustainable energy to the market in the most efficient way possible. We are excited to see our grid-scale energy storage plans coming to life and work with Wärtsilä, a company with a leading position and an impressive track record in energy storage technology, as a project partner,” commented.
On the other hand, Sushil Purohit, President, Wärtsilä Energy, commented: “This is a landmark project, and we are proud to have been selected as the ESS provider. The flexibility of our technology and the in-house experience we bring can together be instrumental in maintaining a reliable and affordable electricity supply for South Australian consumers – both household and business – for years to come.”