Tesla community battery nears completion in coastal Queensland town

A network-connected community battery that will have the capacity to power nearly 500 homes for one day using locally generated solar is nearing completion in the coastal Queensland town of Bargara.

The 4MW/8MWh Tesla battery is one of five being rolled by Energy Queensland to test the benefits of storing excess solar – generated on local rooftops – in the middle of the day before supplying it back to the local community during peak consumption in the evening.

The Queensland Labor government, like the federal Labor party, believes that installing network connected batteries in strategic positions across the grid will be critical to the shift to renewables – and in particular to supporting parts of the network with large amounts of rooftop solar.

As Queensland’s member for Bundaberg, Tom Smith, explained it on Wednesday, by basing the batteries in the community, it means renewable energy will be generated locally, stored locally, and then used locally, avoiding network energy losses.

Together, the five Energy Queensland community battery energy storage systems – including in Hervey Bay, Toowoomba, Townsville and Yeppoon – will store up to 40MWh, enough cheap solar power for 2400 households.

Queensland treasurer and acting premier Cameron Dick, who visited the site of the Bargara battery this week, said the installation was nearing its completion by a subsidiary of state-owned Energy Queensland, Yurika.

Dick said the battery, transformer and cables were all in their final positions in Bargara – which is situated roughly 13km east of Bundaberg in Queensland – with full energisation of the site expected in June.

“Queensland has one of the highest rates of rooftop solar installation in the world, and there are times on sunny days when generation far outstrips demand,” he said.

“Batteries like this one being installed near Bargara allow us to store that excess energy for use in the evening.

“Around 18 Energy Queensland staff have helped bring this project to life, but the real sweetener is for the thousands of local residents and businesses around Bargara who stand to benefit from more cheap solar power,” Dick added.

Bargara and the other battery sites were chosen for the trial due to their locations near to existing infrastructure, which has helped to guarantee lower project costs, faster deployment, and ease of connection to the network.

Energy Queensland executive general manager Michael Dart said the company was proud to be delivering the Bargara battery system in such a short time frame.

“This is an excellent result for Bargara and the surrounding communities, as they will get access to this network-connected battery very soon,” he said.

“The experience Energy Queensland gained from our two previous network-connected battery projects in Townsville has been invaluable as it has meant a very short delivery time frame for this project here at Bargara.”