A new milestone has been reached on the State Electricity Commission (SEC) Renewable Energy Park in Horsham, Victoria with the appointment of Energy Vault as contractor to deliver a battery energy storage system (BESS).
The SEC Renewable Energy Park is a 100 per cent publicly owned utility-scale renewable energy development comprised of a 119MW solar farm and 100MW, two-hour BESS. This project is one of Australia’s first integrated solar and BESS facilities with a single connection point.
“We are pleased to further expand our footprint of energy storage systems in the dynamic and rapidly growing Australian market and work with SEC on this innovative hybrid project architecture. As our first government collaboration, this publicly-owned project is well aligned with our mission to accelerate the clean energy transition through sustainable and efficient energy storage solutions and will play a pivotal role in ensuring the availability of renewable energy,” Energy Vault Chairman and CEO Robert Piconi said.
The BESS will store energy from the solar farm, which has the capacity to generate approximately 242,000MWh of renewable energy annually – enough to power 51,000 homes.
The battery component of the SEC Renewable Energy Park will store cheap renewable energy and pump it into the electric grid when needed, helping drive electricity prices down. The BESS will also enable an additional 180MW of new renewables to be connected to the grid.
Not only will this project help lower electricity costs, but it will also create hundreds of jobs for the region. About 246 jobs are expected to be created during the construction phase, including 20 roles for apprentices, trainees and cadets.
“The SEC Renewable Energy Park will deliver cheaper power for all of Victoria and create lots of great new jobs in Horsham,” Member for Western Victoria Jacinta Ermacora said.
In addition, the SEC will deliver direct benefits for the local community through a community benefits fund. The SEC will also work with the community to invest $42,000 annually back into the local area during the construction of the renewable energy park as well as a further $70,000 each year once the new facility is operational.
The SEC has invested $370 million towards the project and has appointed OX2 to build the energy park. Preconstruction works are already underway, and the project is on track to be completed in 2027.
All profits made by the SEC will be reinvested back into the State and help deliver more renewable energy projects to help Victorians save money on their electricity bills.
“Building more renewable energy will make sure Victoria can continue to have the lowest wholesale energy prices in the market, push down energy bills and create good local jobs.
“We’re excited to partner with Energy Vault to help deliver the batter for our first 100 per cent publicly owned renewable energy project,” Minister for the State Electricity Commission Lily D’Ambrosio said.
Source: Premier of Victoria – Media Centre; State Electricity Commission (1, 2); Energy Vault