News

Iberdrola Australia is another major Australian renewable energy project developer pushing ahead with plans for big battery projects, seeking approvals for a BESS attached to a gas-fired power station in suburban Sydney.

Located in Smithfield, around 30km west of the Sydney CBD, the proposed 72 MW / 260 MWh Smithfield BESS will require an area of up to 2700m2.

It will connect into the existing switchgear building in the northeast corner of the Smithfield Energy Facility - a 62 MW, 3-turbine operating gas-fired power station owned by Iberdrola - via a switch room.

Construction is scheduled to start in 2024 and commercial operation by 2026.

Iberdrola Australia also owns the in-service 25 MW capacity Lake Bonney BESS (pictured below) located adjacent to the wind farm of the same name in South Australia.

As pointed out in a previous AltEnergy article, a lot of resources are being poured into the Aussie "battery boom".