Lumea, a commercial arm of TransGrid, has issued an expression of interest (EoI) to develop a 300 MW grid-scale battery storage system in Victoria, Australia.

The company plans to develop the project without using government funding.

The company said the battery storage system would operate in the National Electricity Market from the Deer Park Energy Hub in Victoria, an important power supply source for metropolitan Melbourne.

According to Lumea, the EoI process will confirm market interest and determine the battery’s optimal size and duration. It will help inform whether there are any opportunities to supply system reliability service to the grid as the energy economy transforms towards higher renewable energy generation.

To conclude the choice of market participants, the company is in talks with renewable energy generators and energy sector organizations to participate in the project through the tender process.

Nigel Buchanan, Head of Infrastructure, Lumea, said, “Lumea is committed to the transition to a smarter energy future, and batteries are an important solution to the issues we face as renewable energy increases as the main source of Australia’s electricity generation.”

“The Deer Park Battery will prove that grid-scale battery energy storage systems are a good long-term investment to maintain reliability and security of the system, ultimately bringing lower energy costs to customers,” Buchanan added.

TransGrid’s network at Darlington Point Substation will also be connected to the Riverina Energy Storage System – a 100 MW/200 MWh lithium-ion battery project. The AUD 3.2 billion ($2.5 billion) project was awarded to Royal Dutch Shell recently. Shell Energy is signing a long-term services agreement for operational rights to a 60 MW/120 MWh part of the project.

Last year, the government of New South Wales and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency awarded funding to TransGrid for the installation of the first large-scale grid battery at TransGrid’s Wallgrove substation in Western Sydney, Australia. The Wallgrove grid battery project will trial the use of a 50 MW/75 MWh lithium-ion battery to provide fast frequency response and synthetic inertia services to the New South Wales transmission network. Tesla will design the battery by using the Tesla Megapacks, and the battery will be connected directly to TransGrid’s transmission network.

According to Mercom Capital Group’s latest report Q1 2021 Funding and M&A Report for Storage, Grid, and Efficiency, total corporate funding (including VC, debt, and public market financing) for battery storage companies in Q1 2021 stood at $4.7 billion in 17 deals against $3.1 billion in 19 deals in Q4 2020. The figures were up significantly compared to $244 million in nine deals in Q1 2020.