- Australia’s most extensive battery storage project worth $1.9 billion on the outskirts of Melbourne has been resized, reshaped, renamed, and relaunched.
- The battery will use LFP battery technology to be provided by the Finland-based Wärtsilä.
Australia’s most extensive battery storage project worth $1.9 billion on the outskirts of Melbourne has been resized, reshaped, renamed, and relaunched under its new owners, the rebranded Singapore-based Equis Developments. The Melton Renewable Energy Hub was first unveiled in August 2021 by its then-owner Syncline Energy as a 600MW/2400MWh project rated as the biggest in the country located at the attractive point in the state’s main 500kV transmission backbone, 25kms from Melbourne. It was supposed to reach a “financial close” earlier this year.
The now-renamed Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub is the biggest project in that portfolio. It has been resized from 600MW to 1200MW of battery capacity but with a similar amount of storage, 2,400MWh. According to Equis, it will be split into a “unique design” of six projects connected to the grid. It will be rolled out in two 600MW stages, with the first expected to start development in the second quarter of 2023 and start operations in 2024. Also, contracts for the battery storage project have yet to be signed with any customers, as the Australian Energy Market Operator is still reviewing the initial three points of connection.
Equis says the battery project will ultimately include a battery recycling facility and a hydrogen production facility tapping into Melbourne’s wastewater and is ideally sited because of its proximity to the main 500kV line. The battery will use LFP battery technology to be provided by the Finland-based Wärtsilä. Equis CEO David Russell said, “The scale and uniqueness of MREH’s approvals and development mean it will be capable of providing both short and long-hour storage and response services catering to the changing demands of the National Electricity Market”.