Origin Energy unveils plans for 2 GWh battery in Australia

Origin Energy has submitted an environmental report to the Australian federal government for a new 500 MW/2,000 MWh BESS to be built near Kogan, about 40 km west of Dalby, Queensland.

The BESS is to be installed on land beside Origin Energy’s existing 630 MW Darling Downs power station, which is Australia’s largest combined cycle gas-fired power plant. Origin Energy said it has already secured approval from the Western Downs Regional Council to allow for the development and installation of a battery at the site.

A 275 kV transmission line will connect the system to the grid via the nearby Braemar substation. Origin Energy said the battery will use lithium-ion technology and will have up to four hours of storage capacity that will be able to be dispatched over variable durations.

The company said it plans to “construct and operate the BESS, to increase Queensland based system strength and storage assets, which provides security to Queensland’s energy supply … The battery at Darling Downs will be charged via the existing grid connection during the day when renewable energy is plentiful and dispatched at times of peak demand.”

Construction is expected to start in mid-2025, with the build anticipated to take up to 24 months. Pending approvals, Origin Energy said it will launch a tender process to identify a suitably qualified contractor to supply and install the battery.

If built, the battery will be the biggest in Queensland, eclipsing the 300 MW/1,200 MWh to be built by state-owned energy company Stanwell next to the Tarong coal-fired power station, about 100 km northeast of Dalby.

It would also be larger than the state’s two operational batteries: Singapore-based developer Vena Energy’s 100 MW/150 MWh Wandoan South project on the Western Downs and Sydney-based Genex’s 50 MW/100 MWh Bouldercombe battery near Rockhampton, central Queensland.

The Darling Downs battery expands Origin Energy’s battery energy storage portfolio as it looks to build its renewables and storage portfolio to 4 GW by 2030.

The utility is also progressing plans to build a 700 MW/2,800 MWh battery at the site of its coal-fired Eraring power station in the New South Wales Hunter Valley. It has also commenced construction of a 300 MW/650 MWh project next to the gas-fired power station in Mortlake, Victoria.