Work starts on SA's biggest battery at Tepko
Over 70,000 homes will be powered when the Summerfield battery project is completed in 2027.
South Australia's largest grid-scale battery will be established here in the Murraylands over the next three years.
The Summerfield battery project includes a four-hour, 240-megawatt battery in the form of 222 battery containers over one hectare of land.
The battery will power the equivalent of 70,000 South Australian homes every day, nearly 10 percent of all homes in the state.
The Summerfield site is located at Tepko, near the Tungkillo switching station and Heywood interconnector.
Summerfield will support the South Australian government’s target of 100 per cent net renewable energy by 2027, by storing excess wind and solar energy generated during the day to supply renewable power during peak demand periods.
Renewable energy investment company Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners will lead the project, while Canadian Solar’s E-Storage will build and operate the battery under a 20-year operations and maintenance agreement.
State Energy and Mining Minister Tom Koutsantonis said the battery would improve the reliability and stability of the power grid.
“It will also have local benefits ... including supporting over 100 jobs during planning and construction,” he said.
“Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners’ credentials are impressive, and it is obvious they have very big plans for Australia.”
The head of CIP Australia, Jørn Hammer, said the start of construction was a significant milestone for the Summerfield project.
“Australia needs large-scale battery energy storage solutions to stabilise the grid and deliver affordable power to homes and businesses when needed most,” he said.
The Summerfield site was initially planned as a $650 million gas power plant capable of powering 550,000 homes, but that plan has since been shelved.
As part of the project, CIP is directly developing transmission infrastructure which will enable up to 600MW of additional transmission capacity.
At 240MW, the Summerfield battery will have six times the capacity of a battery which was recently completed at Tailem Bend, and will be slightly more powerful than another project being planned at Murray Bridge North.
The Hornsdale “big battery” in SA's Mid North, the first to be installed in the state, has a capacity of 150MW.
- More information: www.summerfieldbattery.com.au.
