Canberra's first big battery connecting into the national electricity grid is now fully operational, helping shore-up power supply as the capital makes its all-electric transition.
Capable of generating 10-megawatt hours of energy and storing 20-megawatts of energy, the new Beard battery has capacity to power 3000 Canberra homes for two hours.
The Global Power Generation owned and operated battery has an expected 20 year lifespan. Plans are underway for an additional 250 megawatts of grid-scale and neighbourhood battery installation in coming years.
The large-scale battery will store excess energy during periods of high solar and wind generation and allow for the immediate dispatch of energy when the network needs it.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr said this was the first of many examples of the ACT investing in storage of surplus renewable energy generated in Canberra and the region, as well as through long-term electricity supply contracts.
Mr Barr said Canberrans can expect to see many more energy-storage investments in coming years and tenders were already being received for the next battery projects.
"Many households have their own household batteries installed now and every electric vehicle is a large battery on wheels as well," he said.
"All of that storage is going to combine over the coming decades to enable us to make the switch to electrify Canberra."
Energy Minister Shane Rattenbury said storage was a critical component of the ACT's energy transition, helping ensure power continued to be supplied during periods of high demand and when failing fossil-fuel generators reduced electricity availability throughout the eastern states.
He said the territory was committed to cutting fossil fuel gas use, which makes up 20 per cent of the ACT's emissions and electrify the transport fleet, which was currently 60 per cent of emissions.
"Having the grid strength that these sort of storage facilities provide are a part of that big goal of moving ourselves towards being a carbon-neutral territory by 2045," he said.
Global Power Generation, a subsidiary of Spanish energy giant Naturgy, was awarded the contract through a reverse-auction scheme in 2019.
Neoeon, a French company with headquarters in the ACT, was awarded a contract to build and own a 50-megawatt battery through the reverse auction. The project, also located next to TransGrid's Queanbeyan substation, is scheduled for completion later this year
Opening Canberra's first big battery has been part of a three-phased approach which also included providing storage at a neighbourhood level and at an institutional level such as universities and hospitals.
The ACT government wrapped up its battery rebate program aimed at households and businesses earlier this month, after seven years.
More than 5000 Canberra homes and businesses accessed financial support to install a battery since 2019.
The industry grew from four to 24 battery installers operating in the ACT in that time.
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