Horizon Power (WA) has combined with China’s Lishen Power on an industrial battery trial in Carnarvon that aims to lower the cost of energy demand through battery storage.
Energy Minister, Mike Nahan, recently announced that two industrial batteries capable of delivering up to two megawatts (MW) of power will be used in the trial at Horizon Power’s Mungullah Power Station, in Carnarvon.
Mungullah Power Station currently has a capacity of 17 MW and Carnarvon has one of the highest distributed Renewable Energy Generation levels of all of Horizon’s islanded networks.
The two large battery storage units will be housed in sea containers at Mungullah, with other Horizon Power sites also being considered.
The battery units will be used to enhance generating capacity and optimise spinning reserve, which is essentially reserving power that may need to be drawn upon quickly in the event that demand reaches existing capacity.
Mr Nahan said, “This partnership demonstrates the cooperation between China and Western Australia to deliver mutually beneficial energy solutions which will ultimately drive down the operating costs of producing power in the regions,
“This is good news for taxpayers as the cost of power in regional WA is heavily subsidised by the State Government and the use of the battery storage units means that the cost of providing spinning reserve to supply electrical power for Carnarvon will be significantly reduced as we will be using stored battery power rather than diesel to provide the reserve energy.”
While the battery storage units will initially be used alongside a more traditional means of generating energy, the learnings of the trial will be applied to renewable energy systems and ultimately inform Horizon Power’s strategy in meeting the dynamic needs of the energy market.
“New technology in the renewable and distributed energy space is presenting multiple opportunities and threats to energy utilities, so I am delighted that Horizon Power and Lishen Power will be working together to apply the knowledge gained from the battery use at Mungullah to renewable energy strategies,” Mr Nahan said.
