Renewable energy project developer, Risen Energy Australia (REA) has been granted funding by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to progress its Bungama battery energy storage system project (BESS) in South Australia.

The 200MW/400MWh BESS facility, which received developmental approval in 2021 and is currently going through grid connection approval, will be located adjacent to the 275/132 kV Bungama Substation near Port Pirie in South Australia.

“This funding is a game-changer for us as it will enable us to incorporate advanced inverter functionality that would otherwise not be considered,” REA chief executive Archie Chen says.

“The funding will also enable us to provide the best possible solution for the project and the learnings attained from Bungama will benefit similar BESS projects in our pipeline”.

Bungama BESS will play an important role in strengthening the South Australian energy network and will likely become the home for several other large generator/load connections.

Bungama will feature grid-forming inverter technology with a new integration system. Risen believes that this new integration system will be successful and provide an additional solution option into the Australian market, eventually benefitting players in the energy storage industry.

The project is expected to be operational by mid to end 2024. Risen Energy Australia has a goal of developing 3GW and delivering 1GW renewable projects by 2027.