Australia to build world’s largest solar battery

The world’s largest grid-scale solar battery, with a potential capacity of 1200 megawatts – about eight times the size of the South Australian big battery – is to be built in the NSW Hunter Valley at Kurri Kurri, 35 kilometers north-west of Newcastle, Report states, citing Sydney Morning Herald.

The project is developed by CEP Energy, which is sourcing its power from factory and warehouse rooftops around the country, many of which are owned by the property giant Pelligra which has 10 million square meters of rooftop space.

Morris Iemma, the former NSW Labor premier who is now chairman of CEP Energy, said that Australia leads the world in the uptake of solar on homes but is far behind commercial solar. The deal between CEP Energy and Pelligra shows how much potential there is to build grid-scale solar around cities where power is needed most and where grid connections already exist by using industrial and commercial roof space, he said.

With its solar farms and batteries network, CEP Energy plans to sell cheap energy directly to industrial users and the excess to the grid. The Hunter Valley battery should be completed by 2023.