Australian state-owned power generation company CS Energy announced on 9 August that its 100MW/200MWh Chinchilla Battery is now fully operational and ready to support Queensland’s power grid.
The project went under a comprehensive commissioning programme to test its batteries for safety and reliability under multiple operating conditions.
CS Energy CEO Darren Busine commented: “Getting the Chinchilla Battery ready for commercial operation has taken a large effort from many people and teams across our entire business, from the team at the site who will operate and maintain the asset to our traders in Brisbane who will dispatch its output into the grid."
The Chinchilla Battery was developed as a collaboration among CS Energy, Tesla and construction contractor Downer. Tesla provided 80 Megapack 2 systems for the project while Downer reportedly spent over A$3m on suppliers and subcontractors during the project’s construction phase.
The project is the first project to commence commercial operations from CS Energy’s Kogan Creek Clean Energy Hub. The remaining two projects in development are a renewable hydrogen demonstration plant and a hydrogen-ready gas-peaking power station.
The three projects will contribute to Queensland’s target of meeting 80% of its energy mix with renewable energy by 2035.
“This project, along with our other projects planned for the Kogan Clean Energy Hub, shows that CS Energy is here for the long term in the Western Downs community," Busine said.
The Chinchilla Battery is the first publicly owned large-scale battery storage project in Queensland.
The project is set to power 33,000 homes for two hours at a time, contributing to increased flexible capacity to the grid and decreasing electricity bills across Queensland.
Mick de Brenni, Minister for Energy and Clean Economy Jobs at the Queensland government, added on his socials: “It [the Chinchilla Battery] will soak up surplus energy during the day to power up to 30,000 homes during the evening peak... We’re converting coal-fired power stations across Queensland to charge up our renewable energy future.”
