A new 150-megawatt (MW) battery in South Australia has begun commercial operations, providing a boost to the state’s grid as it manages record-breaking levels of renewable energy.
Technology group Wärtsilä provided the Bungama battery energy storage system (BESS), a 300-megawatt-hour (MWh) facility to owner and operator Revera Energy. Located in the state’s Mid North, the project marks Wärtsilä’s fourth operational grid-scale storage facility in Australia.
The project sailed through the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) compliance process, clearing all three mandated Hold Point Tests ahead of schedule. These tests require new energy assets to prove their safety and stability in progressive stages before receiving full commercial approval.
South Australia leads the world in its proportion of wind and solar power generation, making fast-acting storage critical to smoothing out erratic shifts in supply.
The Bungama facility uses Wärtsilä’s GEMS digital platform to monitor the grid in real-time, offering millisecond-level accuracy to catch excess green energy and dispatch it when needed.
“Bungama BESS is a cornerstone asset in Revera’s strategy to build the flexible infrastructure Australia needs for its clean energy future,” says Daniel Kim, CEO at Revera.
“This project demonstrates what effective collaboration can deliver, while meeting the high technical and safety standards required for the grid.”
Wärtsilä partnered with transmission network provider ElectraNet and local engineering contractor Enerven to streamline the deployment, which now pushes the tech firm’s total Australian energy storage portfolio past six gigawatt-hours (GWh).
Don Lee, Vice President of Global Operations at Wärtsilä Energy Storage, said the swift rollout proves large-scale storage can keep pace with Australia’s rapidly evolving power sector.
“This project shows how storage can be deployed at pace to support regions operating at the frontier of the energy transition, helping to stabilise the grid and ensure more secure, reliable energy for local communities,” Lee said.