Stage 2 of the Victorian Big Battery approved
Published Date : 2023-March-9, Thursday
Victoria’s Department of Planning and Environment has
approved stage 2 of Neoen Energy’s Victorian Big Battery (VBB2) project in
Moorabool, Victoria.
VBB2 will have a capacity of up to 600 MW and be located west
of the 300 MW/450 MWh stage 1 BESS. It will connect to the power grid via an
underground cable to the adjacent Moorabool Terminal Station.
Construction will include an onsite 220/33 kilovolt substation.
The VBB2 facility footprint will occupy up to 14ha of the
overall site area, depending on the battery model chosen and final installed
capacity.
Construction of VBB1 started in early 2021, with operations beginning
in December that year. 212 Tesla
Megapacks were installed, and 150 construction jobs and 6 full time permanent
positions created by the project.
VBB1 has a 10-year System Integrity Protection Scheme (SIPS)
contract with AEMO to add 250 MW of additional peak capacity in summer on the Victoria
to New South Wales Interconnector.
On 30 July 2021 during installation and commissioning a cooling
system leak in a Megapack caused a short circuit leading to overheating and a fire
in a nearby battery compartment. Two Megapacks were damaged. Operations restarted
in late September after mitigation measures were put in place.