By HARRY CLARKE
TECHNOLOGY developed by the world’s richest person, celebrity entrepreneur and business magnate Elon Musk, is being built on the Western Downs.
Publicly owned power generator CS Energy has announced plans to install a 100MW battery at the site of its Kogan Creek Power Station near Chinchilla , comprising “Megapacks” designed by Musk’s company Telsa.
The battery, storing 200MW hours of power, is scheduled to be operational by the end of 2023, costing $150 million and creating 80 jobs during construction.
It will be the newest instalment at an “energy hub” being established at Kogan Creek, the site of CS Energy’s 750MW coal fired power station and newly announced renewable hydrogen demonstration plant.
CS Energy CEO Andrew Bills (pictured) said the battery project would provide employees with exposure to new assets, training and skills as Australia’s energy sector transformed.
“This project is about utilising the Kogan Creek site’s existing attributes of grid connection, water, land and workforce to create new opportunities,” Mr Bills said.
“Large-scale batteries are an important next step in creating a more flexible and diversified energy portfolio for CS Energy and our owners, the people of Queensland.
“Adding firm, fast start generation assets to CS Energy’s portfolio will enable us to more effectively respond to the changing demand and shape of the National Electricity Market.”
The battery will have a relatively small footprint of 100m x 150m and be connected to the grid via Powerlink’s 275 kV Western Downs substation.
Queensland energy, renewables and hydrogen minister Mick de Brenni said the state government was keen to fund new grid-scale batteries to ensure a sustainable future for Queensland’s publicly owned energy companies.
“This battery represents further diversification of energy and modernisation of Queensland publicly owned power companies,” he said.
“Queenslanders want clean energy, but they also want reliable energy, so the inclusion of batteries into the CS Energy portfolio will support further expansion of their variable (renewable) energy assets alongside existing traditional generation.
