Enzen Australia is partnering with Pacific Blue, one of Australia’s foremost renewable generation and retail companies, to construct a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Clements Gap on Nukunu Country, South Australia.
At 60MW in size, this state-of-the-art facility is Pacific Blue’s largest BESS yet and will support South Australia to achieve its renewable energy targets. Enzen is taking end-to-end ownership for the delivery of this project, reinforcing our unwavering focus on the delivery of sustainable, affordable energy solutions in Australia and globally.
The Clements Gap BESS will provide a duration of 130 megawatt hours, which can be released to the grid during periods of peak demand, supporting grid stability regardless of weather conditions and playing a vital role in South Australia’s broader energy transition to 100 per cent renewables by 2027.
Domenic Capomolla, Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Blue, said: “The focus of Australia’s energy transition so far has overwhelmingly been on the generation of renewable energy. Storing that energy and deploying it to support grid stability is the missing piece and a critical component of Australia’s renewable energy transition.
"The construction of Clements Gap BESS is the first key milestone for Pacific Blue in realising our 2.5-gigawatt pipeline of capacity and energy storage solutions, which will contribute to Australia achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. We are delighted to partner with Enzen to deliver this exciting BESS project.”
Dileep Viswanath, Enzen Australia CEO and Enzen Group Deputy CEO, said: "We are excited to establish a strategic partnership with Pacific Blue, who have more than 30 years’ experience as an industry leader. Their unique focus, exclusively on clean energy since their inception, has strong alignment with Enzen's own vision and purpose.
"Our collaboration will enable Enzen to build further on our credentials and capabilities in the growing BESS market in Australia, plus strengthen our role in accelerating the net zero transition globally with our customers and partners."
Pat Lennon, Head of Energy Asset Development for Enzen Australia, said: “Located next to Pacific Blue’s existing Clements Gap wind farm, the BESS is a major advancement in developing the state’s sustainable energy systems.
“Our turnkey solution will encompass design, supply, construction and commissioning / grid connection, drawing on our deep domain renewables knowledge and global experience as an energy transformation specialist.”
The Hon Tom Koutsantonis MP, Minister for Energy and Mining for South Australia, said: “We warmly welcome the investment in this battery project, which will help reduce peak wholesale prices by increasing the amount of available power when it is needed most. It is encouraging to see a new company joining the others who have already installed or are building grid-scale batteries. This will increase competition in the South Australian market for ancillary services and in the wholesale market. It will assist the whole state as we transition to cleaner, more affordable and reliable energy.”
This is the second grid-scale renewables project Enzen has secured in Australia, which needs to scale renewables and BESS significantly as a nation to achieve its net zero commitments.
Australia is experiencing one of the fastest power system transformations on the planet with a target of reaching 82% in renewable power by 2030.
Enzen is well poised to participate in this significant market growth with our main focus on grid-scale solar and BESS renewable projects. BESS capacity in Australia is expected to reach 15GW by 2030, up from 1.4GW 2022 and 5GW in 2023. A total of AUD 4.9 billion was invested in 2023 alone.
Grid-scale solar is experiencing enormous growth in Australia, with seven new projects totalling 921MWs securing financial commitment in 2023. We expect more than 5000MW of grid-scale solar, representing AUD 7.5 billion, to be built before 2030.
With a rapidly-growing solutions team across our global businesses, together with leading industry partners, Enzen is in a stronger position than ever to deliver positive outcomes on renewable generation projects for our customers. We are at the start of an exciting journey.