UK-based Octopus Investments has struck deals for the purchase of two major battery projects in Australia, one a massive facility of up to 4.8 gigawatt-hours in NSW, and the other a smaller solar-battery hybrid project in Queensland.
Octopus is buying the Hanworth battery project near Bannaby, west of Bowral, from development company Enervest, which at full scale will deliver 1.2 gigawatts (GW) and 4.8 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of storage capacity. If built now it would rank as the biggest in the country.
It is also buying the Dunmore hybrid project in Queensland from Korean giant Samsung, which will combine a 300 megawatt (MW) solar farm paired with a 150 MW, 300 MWh battery. Together, the projects would represent investment of more than $3 billion once built.
“Australia still needs new power stations to replace ageing coal plants. The difference is that today we can build them using a mix of solar, wind and batteries instead of smokestacks,” Octopus Australia managing director Sam Reynolds said in a statement.
“By owning and operating our projects as one portfolio, we can deliver reliable power every day of the year – not just when the sun shines or the wind blows. This is about replacing coal with clean energy that works in the real world.”
Octopus is positioning itself as one of the most powerful clean energy investors in Australia, and already owns several operating assets, and with a host of new projects in developments, mostly involving storage.
more to follow
Giles Parkinson
Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.
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