Shell Energy is making an impact on the Australian energy landscape through an exciting range of projects – from the development of more renewable generation to investment in the grid-scale storage to support it.
Electrification is critical for decarbonisation and our team is working collaboratively with key partners to help sectors, industrial users and businesses meet their ambitions for a lower-carbon future.
Grid-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) have a vital role to play in the journey to a lower-carbon future, helping to address the intermittency of renewables like solar and wind, and assisting the goal of making electricity supplies more affordable and resilient.
Shell Energy and Eku Energy, together with minority equity partner and owner of Rangebank Business Park, Perfection Private, have partnered to deliver the 200MW / 400MWh Rangebank battery energy storage system BESS in Cranbourne, Victoria.
Once fully operational, the battery will have the capacity to power the equivalent of 80,000 homes across Victoria for an hour during peak periods.
The project is located on two hectares of land within the Rangebank Business Park in Melbourne’s southeast and completed in December 2024. Under a tolling agreement, Shell Energy will have access to 100 percent of the battery’s capacity over the next 20 years, strengthening its growing battery portfolio.
The Rangebank BESS will play a crucial role in helping stabilise Victoria’s state electricity supply by providing additional storage capacity which can be discharged at times of peak demand.
The Riverina Energy Storage System 1 is a 60MW/120MWh battery, located in the Riverina region, near Darlington Point south-west of Griffith, NSW.
Shell Energy was pleased to select Edify as its battery energy storage partner in this collaborative approach. Shell Energy holds full operational rights to the 60MW battery, which is helping to build a stronger and more resilient power system in NSW. The Riverina Energy Storage System 1 is fully operational as of October 2023.
The Riverina Energy Storage System 1 is one of three independent but co-located projects on the site. The battery was developed to meet the requirements of the NSW Government, which Shell Energy also has a 10-year retail contract agreement to provide the State with 1.8TWh p.a. power for sites including schools, community and medical facilities.
Image supplied by Edify and published with permission.
Shell Energy has acquired the development rights for a 500MW/1000MWh Battery Energy Storage System project, located within the former Wallerawang Power Station site, near Lithgow in Central West NSW.
Development approvals are already in place, and the site provides access to important infrastructure. While there is further work required to get to a Final Investment Decision, once built, the BESS will be connected to the adjacent 330kV Wallerawang Substation.
Batteries have a vital role to play in the energy transition, addressing the intermittency of renewables and providing system stability and delivering this project will be an important step forward in securing the energy future of New South Wales.
Shell Energy is proud to work with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on a new initiative to to implement energy load control at 40 commercial and industrial customer sites, to demonstrate flexible demand capacity.
The project, known as ‘Commercialising Smart Energy Hubs’, involves a whole-of-site solution that optimises the energy ecosystem including; heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), refrigeration, electric vehicle (EV) charging control, and onsite solar PV and storage.
The pilot program will recruit shopping centres, supermarkets and a refrigeration distribution centre across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria to demonstrate an estimated 21.5 MW of flexible demand capacity.
The Kondinin Energy project is located approximately 245km east of Perth and comprises various stages of 370MW of developments across wind, solar and battery energy storage system (BESS) assets, including:
Acquisition of the Kondinin Energy project was announced in in 2022, as a 50/50 joint partnership between Shell Energy and Foresight Group.
Kondinin is an advanced development with land and development approvals in place. The project is in a strong renewables resource area and close to the existing Western Power 220kV transmission line, through which it will connect to the grid. Pending final investment decision, construction of the Stage 1 Wind farm is anticipated to occur in 2024.
Shell Energy, together with our construction partner KUGA, will be installing a community battery at Mt Penang Parklands between 5-20 July 2025. Once complete, the Mt Penang community battery will have a footprint of ~30 square metres and have an operational capacity of 200kW – a typical Australian household uses approximately 18kWh of energy so the community battery could power almost 30 homes.
A community battery is essentially an energy bank, installed in a central location within a community. It works to store excess electricity, including power generated from renewable sources during the day. When there’s surplus energy available, the battery stores it. Then, during periods of peak energy demand or when generation sources aren’t producing, this energy can be supplied to the precinct.
During the works, the construction area which at the north-east corner of Village Green 1 and adjacent to Carinya Street, will be fenced off and clearly signed with restricted access for site personnel only. It is expected the brief works period will have minimal impact on adjacent businesses, clubs and facilities users having been scheduled for completion during the NSW school holidays. Nearby public car parking will remain open and available to the public. Traffic flow immediately adjacent to the works area on Carinya Street will occasionally be restricted. Project hosts, Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation (HCCDC), will advise if these circumstances change.
Works will take place between 7am and 6pm from Monday to Sunday.
Shell Energy, together with our construction partner KUGA, will be installing a community battery at Mt Penang Parklands on behalf of Hunter and Central Coast Development Corporation (HCCDC). These works are scheduled to take place between 5 July and 20 July 2025. Once complete, the Mt Penang community battery have an operational capacity of 200Kw.
The battery will be located in the Mt Penang Parklands, at the north-east corner of Village Green 1, adjacent to Carinya Street.
Site fencing is expected to be installed on Saturday 28 June with installation commencing from Saturday, 5 July. This timing was chosen to coincide with the NSW July School Holidays so as to minimise any impacts on the users of nearby community and educational facilities. Workers will be on site between 7am-6pm, from Monday to Sunday.
The installation area will be fenced and signed with entry restricted to authorized personnel only. It’s expected up to ten workers will attend the site seven days a week across the three-week construction period. Nearby public car parking will remain open and available to the public. Traffic flow immediately adjacent to the works area on Carinya Street will occasionally be restricted.
Grid-scale batteries or battery energy storage systems (BESS) have a vital role to play in the energy transition by enabling renewable and grid energy to be efficiently stored and supplied to the grid when required – essentially serving as large power banks. BESSs can also quickly respond to changes in the electricity grid, supporting critical system services. BESS are playing a growing role in enabling businesses and households to procure more and cleaner energy.
A community battery is essentially an energy bank, installed in a central location within a community. It works to store excess electricity, including power generated from renewable sources (such as rooftop solar) during the day. When there’s surplus energy available, the battery stores it. Then, during periods of peak energy demand or when generation sources aren’t producing, this energy can be supplied to households and/or businesses.
A community battery, which may also be referred to as a mid-scale battery, is much smaller in both physical size and storage capacity. As in the case of Mt Penang Parklands community battery, it typically is a behind-the-meter system which provides power that can be used onsite without passing through a meter. Community batteries ‘plug into’ existing electrical infrastructure at a central community location, such as hospitals, shopping centres and community facilities, providing localised, on-site benefits. On the other hand, grid-scale batteries are front-of-meter systems which supports the broader transmission power grid and provides power to off-site locations, benefitting more energy users and suppliers.
The footprint of the installed battery will be ~ 30 square metres at the base and stand ~2.5 metres high.
Once installed, there would be some low-level noise from the ongoing operation of the BESS with the sound emitted being comparable to that of an operating air conditioning unit. It will generally operate at background noise levels prescribed by Australian Standard AS1055.
The lifecycle of the battery is ~ 15 years.
