The Australian renewable energy arm of South Korean industrial conglomerate Samsung is seeking approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act to build another grid-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) in Australia.
Samsung C&T Renewable Energy Australia has lodged plans to build a 200 MW/800 MWh BESS near the town of Warragul in Victoria’s West Gippsland region.
The company said the Darnum BESS project would involve the construction, operation and decommissioning of a battery system with a capacity of 200 MW active power and 800 MWh battery storage capacity.
The project is planned for a 52-hectare site, although only about seven hectares would be used for the battery compound. This would house 196 battery modules, an on-site 33/220 kV substation including a 240 MVA high voltage transformer, harmonic filters, and associated infrastructure. The facility would connect to the National Electricity Market (NEM) via AusNet’s existing 220 kV transmission line that crosses the site.
In its submission, Samsung said the Darnum BESS will facilitate the integration of variable renewable energy into the grid and improve the stability of the electricity network by storing energy during periods of low demand and dispatching during periods of high demand. It will also facilitate the integration of more variable renewable energy into the NEM.
There is already substantial transmission infrastructure in the region but Samsung said BESS storage capacity and system strength services are required to most efficiently and effectively utilise the existing network without the need for major new transmission lines.
“Once operational, the project would provide essential energy storage capacity to assist in keeping Victoria’s electricity network stable and strengthen supply reliability as more renewable energy is integrated into the network,” the company said.
Samsung is targeting a construction start in 2027 with the build expected to take up to 18 months to complete.
The Darnum project is part of Samsung C&T’s growing renewable energy portfolio in Australia. The company is currently working on several other standalone batteries and solar and battery projects across the country.
These include the 100 MW/400 MWh Mangoplah battery project, the 200 MW/800 MWh Romani BESS, the 150 MW/600 MWh Comet Park BESS, and the 80 MW/320 MWh South Coree battery project in New South Wales.
Its pipeline also includes five solar power plants totalling 1.28 GW, each with a BESS
Samsung C&T is also involved with the 1,000 MW Western Giga Energy hydrogen concept proposed for Geraldton in Western Australia.
Earlier this year it completed the sale of the Dunmore project, a 300 MW solar farm plant paired with a 150 MW/300 MWh BESS in Queensland, to Octopus Australia, the Australian arm of UK-based Octopus Group.
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