General News
28 September, 2022
Andrews announces battery facility for Terang
PREMIER Daniel Andrews has vowed Victoria will be the green energy leader of the nation, announcing almost $140 million in funding which included a new battery facility in Terang.
PREMIER Daniel Andrews has vowed Victoria will be the green energy leader of the nation, announcing almost $140 million in funding which included a new battery facility in Terang.
He announced $7 million would be allocated to multi-national renewable energy company Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) to support the installation of a 100MW/2-hour lithium-ion battery energy storage system using new grid forming inverters in Terang.
The Terang Express contacted FRV with a number of questions surrounding the project, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
Further details will be published in upcoming editions.
The funding was part of $38.2 million announcement, under round two of the Energy Innovation Fund (EIF), which will go to four projects using new technology to generate and store clean energy.
The projects, including the $7 million for a 100MW battery and inverter in Terang, will also support $19.3 million for two bioenergy projects at farms in Gippsland and Barwon.
Yarra Valley Water will receive $11.9 million to install an electrolyser to make renewable hydrogen using recycled water in Wollert.
Mr Andrews said the funding would collectively unlock more than $160 million of commercial investment, build local knowledge and deliver 150 jobs.
“Renewable energy is the future,” he said.
“We all know that, and anyone who is not prepared to accept that logic is only making the transition, the reality that we need to turn a challenge in to an opportunity, even harder, he said.
“We’ve always known that central truth that renewable energy would be, and now is, the cheapest form of new energy not just for customers, households and businesses, but it is the best for the planet.
“It’s the best for creating jobs, it’s going to set us up and it’s what’s going to drive both economic growth and an important opportunity for so many thousands of people in to the future.”
Mr Andrews said as the state’s renewable energy generation increases, so too did the need for adequate energy storage systems.
“As we put more and more renewable energy in to the system, we need to invest in renewable energy storage,” he said.
“That energy storage is critically important – it soaks up that renewable energy and then stores it and allows it to be dispatched, allows it to be used, when it’s needed.
“It’s a simple concept, but a critically important one.”
Mr Andrews and Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio also announced Victoria would increase its energy storage target to 6.3 gigawatts by 2035 – enough energy to power around half of the state during peak energy output use.
The nation-leading target was announced alongside $119 million from the $540 million Renewable Energy Zone Fund to fund a 125MW big battery and grid forming inverter in the Murray Renewable Energy Zone, between Bendigo and Red Cliffs.
Collectively, the $157 million package was expected to secure 12,700 jobs and $1.7 billion in investment from 2023 to 2035.
The new storage targets and clean energy projects aim to support a nation-leading action to combat climate change and drive down power prices, including the legislated renewable energy target of 50 per cent by 2030, the goal to reduce emissions by 50 per cent by the same year and reach net zeroby 2050.