A rendering of Hydrostor's Silver City compressed air project, which the company says will create a renewable microgrid for the Australian city of Broken Hill
Canadian energy storage developer Hydrostor, which owns its proprietary Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) technology, said today that Transgrid has included its proposed 200MW/1,500MWh SilverCity energy storage centre in a new project evaluation report. The project is identified as the most suitable energy storage project.
Marie Jordan, executive general manager of Transgrid's network, said that Hydrostor's energy storage project is the preferred long-term energy storage solution for high-voltage transmission network operators and is in the long-term interest of electricity customers. The Long Term
Energy Storage System (LDES) will be able to export stored electricity to the grid to participate in Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM) and help free up more capacity in the region's grid to accommodate more renewable electricity.
Jordan said. "As we continue our transition to renewable energy, we must prioritize clean energy solutions that support the nation's decarbonization goals and its leadership in renewable technologies."
The city of Broken Hill is a historic mining area in western New South Wales. More recently, it has been home to a number of utility-scale solar and wind facilities, and the city is currently deploying a 50MW battery storage system.
In an interview with industry media earlier this year, Hydrostor CEO Curtis Van Walleghem said the city of Broken Hill mainly relies on diesel generators to provide electricity, which are up to 40 years old and are about to be scrapped.
Transgrid didn't want to replace these diesel generators with more fossil fuels, so it worked hard to find clean energy. Hydrostor's Silver City energy storage project has been awarded a transmission reliability contract from the power system operator, and the storage developer hopes to stack this revenue stream with funding from Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM), in partnership with local government and Energy traders reach a deal.
Hydrostor's Walleghem said he believed the project could be completed and operational by 2025 or earlier.
