With the doors set to close on the state’s largest coal fired power station in two years time, Origin Energy has started construction on a large battery that will replace some of the gap that will be left on the energy grid.
Origin Energy announced earlier this year they would be building a 460 megawatt battery storage system on the site of the Eraring Power Station at Lake Macquarie with a dispatch duration of two hours.
It’s hoped the battery will come online in 2025, when the power station is due to close, with the option to increase the battery to 700 megawatts with four hours dispatch duration in the future.
Senior Origin executives and project team members were joined at Eraring for a sod turning ceremony last week with a Welcome to Country and traditional smoking ceremony.
Origin’s head of Energy Supply & Operations, Greg Jarvis said they’re delighted to get their first battery development underway.
“Since announcing our decision to progress with stage one of this Eraring battery in April, our teams have been busy preparing for full scale construction activities by progressing detailed engineering ordering and procuring plant and equipment and overseeing factory acceptance testing of key components like inverters.
“Between now and early 2024 we hope to level and prepare the 12.5-hectare site, which will involve excavating 230,000m3 and placing 157,000m3 of site-won material. Following this, we will take delivery of over 140 inverter units and 70 medium voltage transformers, before 840 battery enclosures begin arriving in the middle of next year.
“Origin and our contract partners are committed to keeping the community informed throughout the delivery of this project and will work to ensure it is delivered safely and on time,” Mr Jarvis said.
The Eraring battery project received initial planning approval from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in May 2022.