A great deal has been written about the 100 MW-battery facility in South Australia. What makes the facility unique is not just that it’s the largest battery in the world, or the record-breaking time in which it was conceived and constructed. It’s unique because it addresses specific technical and market needs in the South Australian network and, by doing so, creates a high value option as part of the State’s Energy Plan that was announced in early 2017.

The State’s vision is to source, generate and control more of South Australia’s power supply in South Australia, to increase self-reliance and provide reliable, competitive and clean power. The 100 MW battery is a key element in making this vision reality. It will provide key system security services to enhance resilience to major contingency events, enable dispatchability of variable wind generation, and put downward pressure on ancillary services prices for consumers. The presentation will outline how the battery will achieve these key objectives.

An overview will also be provided on the lessons learned in delivering this key piece of energy infrastructure, including design, specification, procurement and development aspects of the facility – a process that moved the project from the State’s Energy Plan, the interjection of a high profile Twitter exchange, through a robust specification and procurement process, and on to project delivery in record time.

The presentation will be facilitated by the SA Government and Aurecon. Aurecon was engaged shortly after the announcement of the South Australian Government’s Energy Plan, and was involved in definition of functional requirements, evaluation of EOIs and firm proposals, and provision of support through the execution phases of design, construction and testing.