One of Australia's largest batteries will be built in southwest Queensland.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The battery will be the same size as the giant Tesla battery that powers the South Australian grid.
The lithium ion battery, to be built at Wandoan, about five hours northwest of Brisbane, could power up to 57,000 homes.
Work on the battery energy storage system will start in July following a deal signed by AGL Energy and Vena Energy Australia on Wednesday.
AGL chief executive officer Brett Redman said the Battery Energy Storage System would have a capacity of 100 megawatts and store 150 megawatt hours of energy.
The system will be the largest of five batteries currently powering Queensland.
Three are already online and another is expected to be operating at Townsville next month.
The AGL battery will be built, owned and maintained by Vena Energy Australia.
Vena Energy chief executive officer Nitin Apte said the system would improve reliability of the power grid.
The battery is the first step for Vena Energy, which plans to begin work on a solar farm on the same site next year.
The $650 million Wandoan South Project could supply up to 400,000 households with solar energy.
In 2017 Elon Musk wagered on Twitter that he could install a working Tesla battery in South Australia within 100 days "or it's free" following state wide blackouts.
Australian Associated Press
