Sophie Conlon
Approval for what would be South Australia’s largest grid-scale battery project has been granted by the state government and construction is expected to begin at the Mingbool site before the end of year.
Pacific Green Australia submitted a planning application in February after completing a nine month assessment process.
Chief executive officer Joel Alexander said he was very excited to see the Limestone Coast Energy Park project approved.
“We think it’s a wonderful site and South Australia is a leader in renewable generation,” he said.
“The state is screaming out for more batteries, so to be South Australia’s largest battery once it is fully operational is extremely exciting.
“It’s going to provide the state with much needed storage to be able to immediately provide power when the grid needs it.”
Mr Alexander said the “strategically located” property, neighbouring the South East Substation, was purchased in June 2023 and the development process so far had been smooth.
“We’re directly adjacent to the substation which means we can plug our energy park directly in and not have to build new high voltage infrastructure which is costly and obviously you want to be using what is already there,” he said.
“The land itself has enough distance from neighbours and is really ideally suited land, it’s currently grazing land and it met all of the planning constraints.”
Prior to submitting a planning application, Pacific Green undertook environmental assessments, technical assessments and cultural assessments and Mr Alexander said these complemented the application which was approved without issue.
“I think that is largely due to the level of work we did up front through the first nine months,” he said.
“We put quite a lot of effort and time into the final design and made sure all of the planning constraints by the way of biodiversity, fire, noise and acoustics, that was all really well thought out and we addressed that up front rather than having to respond to questions from the South Australian Government.”
The company also conducted consultation via community meetings and direct contact with neighbours which Mr Alexander said was largely positive.
“We are very pleased to say it received no objections from the community and the public as a whole and we believe that is largely down to the level of community engagement that we completed prior to submitting the application,” he said.
“We really talked through the project and what is was going to mean, not just for the community but as a market as a whole.”
Minister for Energy and Mining Tom Koutsantonis said it was encouraging to see private sector investment.
“An increase in storage will provide greater capacity at peak times, extending the availability of electricity generated by cheap renewables,” he said.
“It’s also particularly pleasing that Pacific Green has chosen the South East of South Australia for its project – greater diversity of storage locations will strengthen our security of supply and reliability.”
The 0.5GW / 1.5 GWh battery energy storage system would be developed and constructed in two phases over the next 36 months and would strengthen the region’s grid stability.
The battery would take on the influx of solar and wind power generated at peak times by acting as a load, before discharging the power back to the grid when it was needed.
It would also have the capacity to store almost 60 per cent of the state’s residential solar output for up to a four hours, enabling an average of 80,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide to be avoided each year by discharging renewable power to the grid during evening peak times and overnight.
Sitting on about six hectares the battery park would be made up of single-story modular units similar in size to a shipping container and would not be visible beyond the immediate vicinity of the site.
During construction Pacific Green has committed to working with local people and suppliers and expects around 150 jobs to be created.
“We look forward to re-engaging with the local community to maximise the tangible economic benefits of the Limestone Coast Energy Parks and to ensure funding and local contracting opportunities are open to all relevant groups,” Mr Alexander said.
Once it is operational the site would not be manned, however Mr Alexander said there would be a local maintenance team.
“There will be a maintenance and operational component of the project that will be a mix of local employment as well as state employment,” he said.
“The local employment will largely relate to maintenance and fault response, so in the event the battery has a fault the local electricians will get out and attended.
“Naturally through these renewable projects most of the employment is through the construction phase and it does start to tail away as it’s operational.”
The parks would have a 20 to 40 year life and Mr Alexander said safety considerations were built into their design and technology.
This included liquid cooling thermal management to keep cells cool, fire suppressant systems and fire breaks on the land, plus various noise and acoustic mitigations.
“The regulations and planning guidelines have to be strictly adhered to in order to receive planning consent and we also go through a significant body of work to make sure the system can operate safely for a long period of time,” he said.
While he was looking forward to seeing construction begin Mr Alexander was also excited for Pacific Green to offer a local community benefit fund.
“The broader public can expect a commitment of funding over a long term period and the details will be announced in the coming months,” he said.
Pacific Green has launched a supplier portal and would host a local supplier networking morning in coming weeks.
For more information visit pacificgreen.com/aus/community/supplier
