THE company awaiting the go ahead to build a battery storage system at Tyabb says advanced safety precautions have been included in its design.
Risks have been reduced by using lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries and having 24/7 fire detection and suppression systems.
Maoneng co-founder and CEO Morris Zhou said that safety was the company’s “top priority”, and it was important for people to understand how battery technology varied and risks were mitigated.
“Batteries will play an increasingly important and necessary role as Australia transitions from traditional energy sources to renewable energy,” he said.
“LFP technology has a very good safety record, which is why we have chosen it for the Mornington BESS [battery energy storage system]. The batteries will be supported by other systems to enable a high level of confidence in our approach to safety.”
Maoneng says LFP batteries have a “relatively much higher thermal stability and less dense chemical composition than other varieties prominent in utility scale batteries, such as NMC technology, therefore significantly reducing risks”.
The site chosen for the battery is next to the Tyabb sub-station in Thornells Road, Tyabb.
Maoneng’s renewables development director Allison Hawke told The News it had “entered into a land access agreement to purchase the lot” from its private owner.
Ms Hawke said talks were being held with possible investors for the Tyabb project “predominantly from the Australian and European markets”.
Finance arrangements are “commercial in confidence for now” but more details would be released “in due course”.
Australian company Maoneng has already partnered with utilities and organisations to own and operate the Sunraysia Solar Farm in NSW, the Mugga Lane Solar Park in the ACT and other battery storage projects.
The Tyabb project will make money by drawing energy from the grid during off-peak periods when it is cheaper and storing it in batteries, and then dispatching it back to the grid during peak periods when it can charge a premium (“Battery plan to ‘stabilise’ power supply” The News 28/7/21).
“Like diesel generators [used each summer to improve supply on the peninsula], batteries provide demand response to help manage excess power demand and excess generation,” Ms Hawke said. “Batteries charge when there is an oversupply of generation and a very low power price and discharge in times of high demand.
“As the fuel source is very low compared to diesel, battery generation can bid into the power market at a lower price. Batteries therefore help to reduce the cost of running the network and maintaining power supply.”
