A battery designed to add 460 megwatts of energy storage to the grid is progressing well at Lake Macquarie.
Origin Energy has confirmed the design work is underway on the battery that will be built at their Eraring Power Station and be complete in time for its closure as early as August 2025.
The final investments have been made in the $600 million project, long lead procurement items have also been ordered and management plans are all but complete – construction on the ground is forecast to begin towards the final quarter of this year.
The battery storage system will have a dispatch duration of two hours and have the capacity to be doubled if it’s needed.
The Eraring battery project received initial planning approval from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment in May 2022.
Eraring is Australia’s largest power station, supplying around a quarter of NSW’s energy needs and is Origin’s only coal-fired generator.
On 17 February 2022, Origin submitted notice to the Australian Energy Market Operator indicating the potential early retirement of the Eraring coal-fired power station at the end of the required three- and half-year notice period. Origin said they will continue to assess the market over time, and this will help inform the final timing for closure of all four units at Eraring.