The Cape York Battery Power Plant is the first renewable power station with battery storage to be approved to connect to the national electricity grid.

December 20, 2018

Australia’s first electricity grid connected big battery solar power station is set to revolutionise energy generation in Queensland’s far-north.

The project’s rugby field sized battery means renewable solar energy can be injected into the power grid even when the sun isn’t shining.

The $150 million Cape York Battery Power Plant is the first renewable power station with battery storage to be approved to connect to the national electricity grid.

The coupling of the solar farm to the battery means that for the first time in Australia, renewable energy is stable and free from voltage and frequency fluctuations, which can cause power outages.

Lyon Group chairman David Green says the project also reduces the need for costly upgrades to thousands of kilometres of electricity poles and wires across Queensland.

“About half of the cost consumers see on their bills is the cost of the poles and wires, and all those network costs would otherwise land heavily on consumers’ bills,” he said in a statement.

Mr Green says the plant will shift up to four hours of solar energy into the evening peak demand period and power more than 20,000 homes.

The construction phase of the project will also bring more than 100 jobs to north Queensland.

It comes after Federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor said state ministers pushing for higher emissions targets didn’t understand what mattered to people – which is lower electricity bills.

Mr Green says renewable energy is now cheaper and more competitive than fossil fuel power generation.

“The reality is that there is no new investment going into coal, banks are not investing in new coal, the coal generators themselves are saying they won’t invest in coal and the regulators who plan the system are all telling us not to expect new coal-fired generation,” he said.

He says the priority for governments and regulators should now be enabling the growing amount of renewable energy to be stored using integrating batteries.

“Nearly one-in-three Queenslanders have rooftop solar power and with the cost of solar coming down the amount of big solar generation under development is huge,” he said.

The project is due for completion in approximately 12 months.