Wanted to sell: Two industrial-scale 270kWh li-ion batteries

Two industrial-scale lithium-ion batteries are being sold on the Australian market via a “Dutch auction,” with the asking price starting at $A335,000 and falling by $5,000 per workday.

Australian management consultancy New Energy Ventures said on Tuesday that it was selling the two brand new 250kVA/270kWh “Powercache” batteries for a client that no longer needed them.

The auction will begin at 9am on Tuesday, July 14, and the price will drop $625/hour ($5000 per workday) until both batteries receive bids.

The batteries, designed by Melbourne engineering company Powertec, share the same LG Chem cells used in the Porche Taycan and can support a wide range of applications, including grid frequency stabilisation, back-up power, or peak load shaving for business customers.

According to New Energy Ventures, the same batteries have been used by Australian electric vehicle charging company, ChargeFox, to buffer their ultrafast chargers, support the local grid and trade in the FCAS market.

“Our client came to us with two brand new batteries that they no longer required.” Said James Allston, managing director of New Energy Ventures.

“With no real secondary market in Australia for new energy technology we needed a novel way of selling the batteries. We hit upon the Dutch Auction.”

Allston said interest in similar sized energy storage projects had “exploded” of late, inspired by the success of projects like University of Queensland’s 1.1MW Tesla battery.

“Early interest in the battery auction has been amazing,” Allston said. “It will be an interesting test of the market in these COVID times.”

If you’re looking to buy, you can find more details on the auction here: www.newenergy.ventures/batteryauction