Origin Energy has progressed plans for a battery at Eraring Power Station, New South Wales, which will have an overall capacity of up to 700MW and a dispatch duration of four hours. It will be the largest battery project currently under consideration in Australia.

As part of the process, Origin has issued an expression of interest to qualified firms to supply and install the large-scale battery.

Additionally, a connection enquiry has been lodged with NSW transmission network service provider TransGrid to connect the battery to the national grid through the Eraring substation.

The Eraring plant is Australia’s largest coal-fired power station and Origins only of the kind. It’s scheduled to be decommissioned in 2032.

Origin executive general manager, energy supply and operations Greg Jarvis says that deploying a battery at Eraring supports Origin’s decarbonisation objectives and recent NSW energy policy announcements: “We recognise we have an important role to play in positioning Origin’s electricity generation portfolio to support Australia’s rapid transition to renewables.

“A large-scale battery at Eraring will help us better support renewable energy and maintain reliable supply for customers, by having long duration storage ready to dispatch into the grid at times when renewable sources are not available.

“The deployment of this battery at Eraring will support Origin’s orderly transition away from coal-fired generation by 2032, while complementing the policy objectives of the NSW energy roadmap.”

After a preferred supplier is selected, the appropriate permitting is achieved and a network connection is established among other steps, the operational capacity of the battery will be deployed over three phases. The first phase is expected to be reached by late 2022.