- Energy Vault announced its contract to work on a 250MW two-hour project at a solar PV plant in Victoria.
- Energy Vault sets to begin grid studies and modelling for the project.
Energy Vault announced its contract to work on a 250MW two-hour project at a solar PV plant in Victoria, Australia, at the All-Energy Australia trade expo on Wednesday. The notice to Proceed from Meadow Creek Solar, the developer of a 330MW solar farm of the same name, about 270km from the state capital Melbourne in rural Victoria.
The 250MW/500MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) by Energy Vault will bring “resiliency and flexibility of charge and discharge” to the co-located solar power plant. However, the details on the battery system’s expected applications and routes to market were not disclosed. Meadow Creek Solar Farm development manager Cameron Munro also said: “The solutions approach Energy Vault conducted with our team has been pivotal in our decision to select the Energy Vault energy storage hardware and software platform,” He added that “Energy Vault’s high energy density design, the option to work with both Central Storage Inverters or the new AC Block and the most advanced Energy Management Software, that enables multiple use cases, optimal economic dispatching and predictive maintenance, bring flexibility and further options when working with our financial and technical partners, DNV and AusNet Services.”
The project is still at the early stage of development, and Energy Vault commended Meadow Creek for completing “extensive work” to determine feasibility. It has also found that sufficient grid capacity is available and is now undergoing environmental and technical assessments. Energy Vault is better known for its championing of a form of mechanical energy storage technology which lifts massive composite blocks weighing dozens of tonnes to charge and then lowers them to discharge. Energy Vault sets to begin grid studies and modelling for the project, working with DNV as its technical advisor to meet the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) requirements.
Meadow Creek Solar Farm development manager Cameron Munro also said: “The solutions approach Energy Vault conducted with our team has been pivotal in our decision to select the Energy Vault energy storage hardware and software platform,” He added that “Energy Vault’s high energy density design, the option to work with both Central Storage Inverters or the new AC Block and the most advanced Energy Management Software, that enables multiple use cases, optimal economic dispatching and predictive maintenance, bring flexibility and further options when working with our financial and technical partners, DNV and AusNet Services.”