Northern Territory continues renewable energy investment

The Northern Territory Government is continuing to invest in battery storage to ensure Territorians reap the benefits from renewable energy.

The Power and Water Corporation has secured conditional support from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for 16 community batteries which will be located in various locations on the Darwin-Katherine electricity grid.

Once online, the batteries will have a significant impact on local network constraints and will expand rooftop solar capacity, reduce emissions and keep power prices affordable.

Work on the remote power system strategy, which will deliver an average of 70% renewable energy to 72 remote communities, is continuing.

Northern Territory Renewables and Energy Minister Kate Worden commented on the Territory’s battery storage.

“Investing in battery technology ensures Territorians will have reliable power supply as we move to integrate more renewable energy into our electricity grid,” she said.

Additionally, the $6.1m Wurrumiyanga solar farm is a step closer to having battery storage with the project expected to provide an additional 1.1MW solar array, together with a 1.75MVA battery energy storage system.

The project is estimated to reduce diesel fuel consumption by 519kl in the first year of operation by introducing additional renewable energy technology.

The battery has been prepared for transport to Wurrumiyanga, where work will begin to connect the battery to the solar farm in the coming months.

Member for Arafura Manual Brown says the battery has already helped bring down emissions.

“The Wurrumiyanga solar project has already helped the largest community on Bathurst Island bring down emissions,” he said.

“Now that testing on the battery is complete, we look forward to seeing the work to install it take place and learning from this project what can be adapted to other remote Territory communities.”