The transition of the former coal-fired power station in Hazelwood, Gippsland, to battery power marks a crucial step forward in Victoria’s renewable energy future.
The new big battery is set to provide an additional 150MW of energy storage capacity to Victoria’s grid.
Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, Lily D’Ambrosio, has launched Hazelwood Battery Energy Storage System (HBESS) – a collaboration between ENGIE, Eku Energy and Fluence. The Hazelwood battery has the capacity to power approximately 75,000 Victorian homes for one hour during the evening peak.
Projects like this are playing a key role in achieving Victoria’s energy storage targets of at least 2.6GW of energy storage capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3GW by 2035 as Victoria works towards 95 per cent renewable energy by 2035.
Victoria is already the home of Australia’s largest, utility-scale batteries, including the 300MW Victorian Big Battery, the largest lithium-ion battery in the southern hemisphere.
The Victorian Budget 2023-24 is investing $42.2 million to install 100 new neighbourhood batteries at targeted locations across Victoria – tripling the number of homes with access to a battery and providing crucial extra storage capacity for local communities.
Ms D’Ambrosio said that Victoria’s nation leading energy storage targets are ensuring that the state continues to attract industry investment and collaboration opportunities.
“The Latrobe Valley has been the home of Victoria’s energy generation for decades and new investment in technologies like energy storage will help solidify its role in our renewable energy future,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
To achieve the State Government’s emissions reduction target of net zero by 2045 Victoria is increasing its energy storage capacity, delivering Australia’s first offshore wind energy industry in Gippsland and investing an initial $1 billion in the State Electricity Commission (SEC) to deliver 4.5GW of power.
