- Developer Maoneng Group’s joint venture (JV) company has begun work on a 240MW/480MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in the Mornington Peninsula region of Victoria, Australia.
- The project will be financed with debt and equity financing at an expected investment cost of AU$ 330 million (US $220 million).
Developer Maoneng Group’s joint venture (JV) company has begun work on a 240MW/480MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project in the Mornington Peninsula region of Victoria, Australia. The project is aimed at helping the Mornington Peninsula region, popular with tourists and holidaymakers, to cope with its fluctuations in electricity demand, which increase and decrease seasonally. The batteries will charge with off-peak energy, including solar, at times of abundant or surplus generation and then input back to the grid when demand peaks and the energy is most needed.
The Mornington BESS got development approval in January 2022 from Victoria Minister for Planning Richard Wynne before getting grid connection approval from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) last May. The development JV had been included in what was described as final negotiations with an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. The project will be financed with debt and equity financing at an expected investment cost of AU$ 330 million (US $220 million).
Maoneng and GMR executive Morris Zhou said the early works agreement had been signed amid challenging supply chain circumstances that have impacted the “availability of transformers and other materials required”. The deal with AusNet will cover the supply of those so-called “long lead” items.