The Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre (FBICRC) has announced Australia’s first sodium-sulphur NAS® battery has been installed at the IGO Nova nickel-copper-cobalt mine site.

The 250 kW/1.45 MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) demonstration unit will provide long-duration storage.

FBICRC Chief Executive Officer Shannon O’Rourke said the installation of Australia’s first NAS® battery will help to accelerate our clean energy future.

“The NAS® battery technology is mature and has been successfully installed and operated at over 250 sites worldwide over the past 20 years.

“These field deployments help build market confidence, train our workforce and build capability in the contracting community. We thank both BASF and IGO for their generous commitment to cooperative research, which enables benefits to flow to Australia as a whole.”

IGO Acting CEO Matt Dusci said the company is committed to prioritising research and development to accelerate IGO and the broader mining industry’s response to climate change.

“The BASF NAS battery trial at our Nova Operation is an important way to field test the suitability of this unique technology in a mining environment and how this will contribute to a clean energy future.”

NAS® batteries that are designed for long duration energy storage applications (6-8 hours or more), have the ability to shift large quantities of energy into periods of low renewable generation.

More than 250 NAS® battery sites across the world are already in operation, with a total storage capacity of approximately 5.0 GWh.

Battery performance will be assessed by the QUT operated National Battery Testing Centre, and the University of Western Australia.

Nova mine site’s NAS® battery is fully installed and has been in operation since mid-February 2023.