Stanwell is Queensland’s leading provider of electricity and energy solutions to the National Electricity Market, and large energy users along the eastern seaboard of Australia. A Queensland Government owned corporation, they are one of the largest energy generators in Australia, with 30+ years’ experience in coal-fired power stations and renewable power assets. Their coal-fired power stations provide reliable baseload electricity.

The Stanwell BESS Project aims to:

• provide a BESS capable of generating a net 300 MW (AC) output
• provide energy storage capacity of 1200 MWh (net)
• participate in the wholesale energy market
• provide frequency control ancillary services (FCAS)
• provide reactive power and voltage control at the 275kV connection point
• be capable of manual dispatch of real and reactive power (for emergency and test scenarios)
• configure and commission the system in grid-forming / virtual machine mode
• be enabled for modification to provide inertia and system strength support.

Yurika was engaged to complete the Balance of Plant (BoP) works, which is the process of connecting and integrating the BESS and the renewable energy it generates into the electricity grid. BoP includes all the supporting components and auxiliary systems required to deliver energy, other than the generation source (the BESS) itself.

At Stanwell, Yurika was appointed the Principal Contractor with work including the turnkey design, engineering, procurement, factory inspections and testing, delivery, construction, start-up, commissioning and testing of all plant and equipment for the BoP Works. This includes the integration of FIM and the supply of support services (labour and plant) for Tesla’s commissioning works. The solution included:

• construction of a 275kV/33kV substation
• 33kV reticulation containing 324 Tesla megapack 2XL batteries
• MV BESS transformers
• 33kV ring main units.

On completion, the BESS will connect into the National Electricity Network via the 275kV Powerlink substation and provide significant firming capacity to support the Central Queensland electricity grid.

Batteries can be charged when energy generation is high, and discharge energy back into the grid when generation is low or demand is high, or to maintain grid stability. This system can charge and discharge electricity several times a day and can respond within fractions of a second to electricity demand. It will be used by Stanwell to participate in the wholesale electricity market, and to provide ancillary services to the NEM.

Designed for a 20-year operating life, this is a high-efficiency system that utilises durable components and optimises maintenance and operating costs. The design life for the BoP Works is 40 years for the main equipment.