Shell, a major British energy company, has chosen a suburb in southeastern Melbourne to build its first direct investment in a large battery project anywhere in the world.
Shell is using its global presence in oil and gas to push deeper into cleaner energy, and it recently announced a deal with Macquarie Asset Management to develop a two-hour big battery at the Rangebank business park in Cranbourne. The battery will have a storage capacity of 400 megawatt-hours and a power capacity of 200 megawatts, which is enough to power 80,000 homes in Victoria for an hour during periods of peak demand.
The project has already reached a financial close and is expected to be completed by 2024. The partnership between Shell and Macquarie’s Green Investment Group is expected to increase Victoria’s “firming capacity” and provide critical services to support the system’s stability.
The project is expected to cost between $300 million and $400 million.
Shell Energy Australia CEO Greg Joiner said that the Rangebank project is the company’s first grid-scale battery investment in Victoria and marks Shell’s first direct equity investment in a utility-scale battery energy storage system globally.
The company plans to build a similar-sized big battery each year in Australia in the coming years as the clean energy transition accelerates.
Shell’s first direct investment in a large battery project in Australia is a significant step in the company’s commitment to cleaner energy. As Australia moves towards its clean energy targets, big batteries will be critical in providing backup for renewable energy. According to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), big batteries must play an increasingly important role in this aspect.
The government has set a target for the grid to be 82% powered by clean energy by 2030, and AEMO expects 60% of the eastern seaboard’s coal fleet to exit the grid by that time.
Shell’s Rangebank project and the company’s plans for similar projects in the coming years will help support Victoria’s transition to cleaner energy sources.