- Greenspot has secured planning approval for a battery energy storage project.
Greenspot, New South Wales-based developer, has announced that it has secured approval for a 500MW/1GWh battery energy storage project at the site of a shuttered coal-fired complex in its home state. The Aussie state’s Department of Planning and Environment issued the approval.
Under the plan, Greenspot proposes installing the so-called Wallerawang 9 battery energy storage system (BESS) within the retired Wallerawang Power Station near Lithgow, which was shut retired in 2014 and had its smokestacks and boilers demolished in a controlled explosion at the end-2021. The developer intends to invest some AUD 400 million (USD 278.3m) to construct a facility that will provide storage firming and other energy services that will help improve the electricity grid’s stability.
According to a report by Renewables Now, the battery will be located just outside the Central West Orana Renewable Energy Zone and connect to an existing TransGrid substation previously used by the coal-fired station. Greenspote said it will aim to bring the facility into service by the summer of 2023/2024.