Powering Australia | Sea Fern floated for new Hunter zone
A consortium consisting of Simply Blue Group and Subsea7, plus local renewable energy developer Spark Renewables, is spearheading the development of the 2 GW Sea Fern floating offshore wind project in the newly declared Hunter offshore wind zone off the coast of New South Wales.
The Sea Fern project is described as currently being at the “inception phase” of applying for a Feasibility Licence under the Offshore Electricity Infrastructure Act 2021.
Within the 7-year Feasibility Licence period the Sea Fern project team would undertake the necessary technical, environmental and social
impact studies, approvals procedures and consultation and “success through this process would provide certainty of licencing required for accessing the seabed and represent the start of a long-term
project...development approval would be required by 2030 to start construction.”
Wärtsilä selected for Eraring mega battery
Wärtsilä has been selected by Origin Energy as the preferred contractor to deliver the first phase, 460 MW/920 MWh, of what will be one of Australia’s largest energy storage projects. The Eraring battery will be installed at Origin’s Eraring power station, with Origin maybe electing to expand the battery to 700 MW/2800 MWh in the future.
Visualisation of Eraring battery
Wärtsilä and Origin have signed an engineered equipment delivery (EEQ) contract with a total value of slightly more than 300 MEUR, Wärtsilä’s largest single energy storage deal to-date. Equipment delivery is expected to take place from October 2023 to September 2024. The Eraring battery will be connected to Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) and support energy security and reliability in the state of New South Wales as the penetration of variable renewable energy supply increases. “With significant solar and wind resources, Australia is in a unique position to rapidly decarbonise its energy sector. Flexible capacity, provided by energy storage projects like Origin’s Eraring battery or grid balancing engines, will be vital to achieving that as the share of renewables increases. The scale of this project positions Wärtsilä at the heart of that trend, delivering gigawatt-scale energy storage projects in each of
our key markets around the world,” said Håkan Agnevall, president & CEO, Wärtsilä. “Eraring is a strategic site with high quality connection infrastructure enabling us to deliver energy into major demand centres. Development of the Eraring battery is a key next step as we look to transform the Eraring site for the future, given our intention to exit coal-fired generation by as early as August 2025,” said Greg Jarvis, head of energy supply and operations at Origin Energy. The energy storage technology that Wärtsilä is supplying (GridSolv Quantum plus GEMS Digital Energy Platform and Storage+) is able to switch operation into grid-forming mode in the future, with the capability to supply a variety of system strength and system restart ancillary services. “This will deliver stability and resilience for NEM as a higher proportion of renewable energy sources penetrate the grid, helping to facilitate Australia’s clean energy transition,” says Wärtsilä.
Eraring coal fired power station: the case for staggered retirement
New modelling from Cornwall Insight Australia suggests that a staggered retirement of the Eraring coal-fired power station would reduce the impact on energy prices in New South Wales (NSW) and lower net imports. Unlike previous plant closures, Eraring plans to retire all four units simultaneously, with a scheduled shutdown of August 2025. This move will result in the removal of a significant 2880 MW of installed capacity from the grid, placing upward pressure on prices in 2026. Slowing down the closure could help ensure there is enough installed renewable and energy storage capacity to mitigate the loss of energy from the power station. Eraring functions as a dispatchable power plant and provides power during evening and early morning peak periods. Cornwall Insight Australia analysis forecasts that renewable sources, such as wind and solar projects, alongside increasing energy storage and energy imports from Queensland (QLD), will replace the retiring plant. Cornwall anticipates that wind and
energy storage will replace the retiring plant during the peak periods. The middle of the day period is expected to be served by the projected significant increase in rooftop PV installations, some new large-scale solar installations, and energy imports from QLD. While this is expected to mitigate price
increases to some extent, the projected timeline for installing capacity indicates this will be a gradual process up to 2028, meaning if Eraring is closed in 2025, there will be a need to rely on expensive imports while the additional generating capacity is brought online. The recently analysed data highlights the advantages of implementing a gradual shutdown plan instead. In the staggered scenario, one unit of Eraring would be closed by the end of 2026, followed by staggered closures of the remaining three units throughout 2027 and 2028. Embracing a staggered approach allows NSW to adequately develop the necessary capacity to replace nearly 3GW of coal- fired power.
Ensuring a smoother transition and
reducing the impact on prices. “A staggered closure approach for
Eraring power station presents a unique opportunity for New South Wales to effectively manage the transition towards a more sustainable energy future,” says Dominic Pacaba, energy modelling and analytics consultant at Cornwall Insight. “By providing time for the development and integration of new energy sources, we can minimise the impact on prices and reduce reliance on costly imports during the transition. This strategic approach sets the stage for a smoother transition and paves the way for a resilient and affordable energy system in NSW. “If the full closure of Eraring does go ahead in 2025, NSW must ensure the timely delivery of schemes, such as the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, Long-term Energy Service Agreements and major projects such as Snowy 2.0 and Project Energy Connect. This will be paramount to maintaining reliability and affordability of energy as NSW looks to meet its decarbonisation targets.”
20 | July/August 2023|
www.modernpowersystems.com
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