Time flies when you’re having fun, or storing energy. Can you believe it’s been a year already since Tesla’s big battery went into production? The time has flown, but during the year the impact the battery has made is substantial.
Neoen, one of the fastest growing leading independent producer of exclusively renewable energy worldwide, has revealed that its Hornsdale Power Reserve (HPR) has exceeded all performance and market expectations after just one year in operation, according to a new independent report.
Located near Jamestown, South Australia, HPR, the world’s largest lithium-ion battery energy storage system at the time of construction, is owned and operated by Neoen, and supplied by Tesla. Built to stabilise the SA electricity grid and facilitate the integration of renewable energy in the state, it also helps avoid blackout events.
The HPR has responded thousands of times to frequency outside the normal operating band. Around one hundred of those events were serious, including the trip of a large coal plant and a critical event in which two transmission lines were lost. South Australia, although cut off from the grid, didn’t lose power as HPR provided frequency support to steady the grid.
The fully operational site has a discharge capacity of 100 MW and energy storage capacity of 129 MWh and shares the same 275 kV network connection point as the 317 MW Hornsdale windfarm.
The key findings from the report are that the Hornsdale Power Reserve:
- Has contributed to the removal of the requirement for a 35 MW local Frequency Control Ancillary Service(FCAS), saving nearly $40 million per year in typical annual costs
- Has reduced the South Australian regulation FCAS price by 75% while also providing these services for otherregions
- Provides a premium contingency service with response time of less than 100 milliseconds
- Helps protect South Australia from being separated from the National Electricity Market
- Is key to the Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) and ElectraNet’s System Integrity ProtectionScheme (SIPS) which protects the SA-VIC Heywood Interconnector from overload
The success of Neoen’s Hornsdale Power Reserve has strengthened the commercial case for new battery projects in Australia. It enables their deployment to support the ongoing energy transition and will continue to prove the value of similar investments.
Hornsdale Power Reserve is an example of the projects that will underpin a modern energy system in Australia and Neoen is excited to continue leading this sector.
Franck Woitiez, Managing Director Neoen Australia, added:
The full report is available to download here: www.aurecongroup.com/hpr-impact-study
