In early November, French renewable energy developer Neoen won a contract to build one of the largest lithium-ion batteries in the world. The facility will be built near the regional city of Geelong using Tesla Megapacks. A groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday at a site near Geelong with Victoria's Energy and Climate Minister Lily D'Ambrosio.

Groundbreaking ceremony for our Victorian Big Battery in Geelong today with @LilyDAmbrosioMP (thanks for the help!😉). We're rolling up our sleeves💪with our partner @AusNetServices to deliver a 300MW @Tesla battery for next summer ! #sogoodtobebackinVic https://t.co/znnzx0zkzT pic.twitter.com/Uq5dIWA7W0

— Neoen Australia (@NEOEN_AU) December 1, 2020

The big battery will have a power capacity of 300MW and a storage capacity of 450MWh, making it more than double the size of the Hornsdale battery (150/194MWh), which was recently expanded to add new synthetic inertia and other key network services to South Australia. Neoen won the right to build the battery through a tender by the Australian energy market operator. Once again, they will partner with Tesla to deliver the highest quality service.

Several approvals are still pending to install the batteries, but these are expected soon. Construction of the large battery will begin in a few weeks.

The Geelong battery will be installed near Moorabool Terminal Station and will be ready by the end of 2021, said D'Ambrosio. It is expected to have enough energy to run about 500,000 homes for half an hour.

The new Victoria battery will be built with 210 Tesla Megapacks with a capacity of 3MWh, which can deliver a major peaking plant four times quicker than traditional fossil fuel projects.

D'Ambrosio also joined the groundbreaking ceremony, and was delighted that the energy will come from renewable energy sources and that Victoria is leading the way in renewable energy investments in Australia.

It will create jobs in construction. It will store solar and wind energy. It shows Victoria is leading the country when it comes to investment in renewables. 2/2

— Lily D'Ambrosio MP (@LilyDAmbrosioMP) December 1, 2020

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