Canberra chips in $ 12m towards SA battery project

DESPITE warning a Tesla- backed battery would not be a silver bullet, the Federal Government is tipping in millions to help build another one.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg announced yesterday that the Federal Government, through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, would provide up to $ 12 million for a 30Mw largescale battery at the Dalrymple substation on the Yorke Peninsula.

“Expected to cost around $ 30 million, the battery is the first large- scale battery to be designed, built and commercially operated in Australia and backed by private investment from energy providers,” he said.

The excitement over the announcement was surprising considering the Federal Government’s attack on the proposed lithium ion battery, South Australian Energy Minister Tom Kout- santonis said. “Given the amount of ridicule Scott Morrison, the Prime Minister and Josh Frydenberg themselves heaped on a 100 megawatt battery and now they’re celebrating a 30 megawatt battery,” he said.

Battery storage was a vital step to transition to a power network run by renewable energy, Australian Renewable Energy Agency chief executive Ivor Frischknecht said.

He said the facility would also be important for supplying a reliable source of electricity to South Australia.

“It may not be the biggest battery in the world, but pound- for- pound it will pack a big punch in demonstrating how utility scale storage can contribute to a stronger South Australian energy network,” Mr Frischknecht said yesterday.

The battery is expected to be operational by February 2018.