Alinta locks deal to construct a 200MWh big battery near Alcoa's Wagerup alumina refinery

Alinta Energy, an Australian energy business, has announced its plant to construct a 200MWh battery next to the Alcoa alumina plant to help stabilise the grid and supply backup power. On Thursday, Alinta said it hired Shanghai Electric Power Design Institute and Sunterra to construct the 100MW, two-hour (200MWh) battery at Alcoa's Wagerup alumina refinery in southwest Western Australia.

The Wagerup battery is the second privately owned battery project to be awarded a contract by the Australian Energy Market Operator to resolve specific supply difficulties in WA's South West Interconnected System, the world's largest microgrid. The Wagerup battery, like Neoen's 219MW/877MWh Collie battery, will be paid to soak up sunlight in the middle of the day before discharging into the evening peak.

"This project is a great example of how Alinta Energy, Western Power, AEMO and our key supply partners are rapidly mobilising to ensure the electricity system in South West WA has the smoothest transition to renewables possible. The battery will connect to existing high voltage infrastructure at the Wagerup Power Station, stabilising the South West WA grid, and providing backup capacity when needed," said Alinta chief development officer Ken Woolley.

The Wagerup project, initially announced by Alinta in 2021, is set to begin immediately, with the large battery slated to be operational in the second part of 2024. As previously reported by RenewEconomy, the Wagerup battery has supplanted Alinta's prior plans, for which it received clearance more than a decade ago, to construct a 350MW "co-generation" plant to supply extra "baseload" electricity at the site.

The utility has chosen the same layout as Kwinana for Alinta's Wagerup battery, which was meant to offer fast frequency reaction to grid problems and electricity during peak periods or smooth out the vagaries of wind and solar. Alinta also has long-term ambitions to construct a wind farm with a capacity of up to 600MW in the Pilbara but is waiting to see how the northwest grid develops. Earlier this week, three of the country's largest miners decided to collaborate to establish what might be one of the world's largest renewable energy centres rather than a patchwork of private networks.

It is one of many batteries sought by AEMO and the state government as it attempts to handle the inevitable shutdown of its last coal-fired generators and the significant increase in energy consumption caused by electrification, the drive towards green hydrogen, and processing and refining. That's because, as networks transition to renewables, the emphasis has shifted to significant batteries for their quick response and flexibility in filling gaps in wind and solar - an essential task for WA's leading network, the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), as the world’s largest isolated grid.