Genex Power says all 40 Tesla Megapack units have arrived on site at the 50MW/100MWh Bouldercombe battery project near Rockhampton in Queensland, marking a “key milestone” for the company’s first big battery.
Genex says the arrival of the final piece of key equipment “significantly de-risks” the overall construction schedule for the big battery project, which remains on track for first energisation by the second half of 2023 and full operations by the year’s end.
Once in operation, the Bouldercombe battery – the second large-scale energy storage system to be installed in the Sunshine State – is expected to become the company’s next big earner.
Genex has what it calls a “unique” arrangement with Tesla that effectively guarantees minimum revenue and share in higher profits. Tesla will operate the battery using its Autobidder software, which will also help to maximise revenues.
“Importantly, the Agreement [with Tesla] delivers the ability to capture revenue from a fixed guaranteed amount to ensure that Genex participates in the revenue upside from significant pricing events,” the company says.
As the only remaining listed company in Australia whose business is focused around wind, solar and storage, Genex revealed its first ever net profit last month, driven by a jump in earnings from its solar farms at Kidston in north Queensland and Jemalong in western NSW.
Its next storage project will be the 250MW, eight hour storage (2,000MWh) pumped hydro system at Kidston, in an abandoned open kit gold mine next to the existing solar farm – the first new pumped hydro project built in more than four decades in Australia, and the first ever by a private company.
The company is also looking at up to 2GW of battery storage and solar capacity at the Bulli Creek project in Queensland that it bought last year.
“(Genex) has developed a unique portfolio of pumped storage hydro, battery energy storage, solar and wind assets that will deliver dispatchable, clean power to assist Australia to meet its renewable energy targets,” the company said in February.
“The increasing impact of intermittent generators on energy prices highlights the need for investment in large scale storage options such as K2-Hydro and the BBP (the Bouldercombe battery).”
