Today, Labor’s Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio announced plans to build one of the world’s biggest lithium batteries, to assist with the storage of renewables.
This 300MW battery will be installed near the Moorabool Terminal Station and is claimed to be ‘ready’ by the summer of 2021-22.
Let there be no mistake, the Victorian Liberal Nationals are unequivocally committed to supporting a considered clean energy transition which protects our environment and lowers our emissions.
However, the government has made no case for the project to be located at Geelong, far away from Victoria’s main renewable energy production zone.
If it is located at Labor’s proposed site, too much energy from renewables projects will be lost in the transmission to the battery storage.
Instead, it should be located at Mortlake, as we suggested in June when we called for this $300 million battery to be built in the heart of Victoria’s renewables production area.
Under the current circumstances, almost a quarter of the energy produced by some renewables projects is lost in transmission.
Such large batteries are essential to ensure the clean energy produced from renewable power can be stored and used later. This is crucial to ensuring green energy remains reliable.
We know Labor does not know how to plan proper energy transmission networks, with $370 million in upgrades required in Western Victoria alone to ensure renewable energy can actually get where it is needed.
Comments attributable to Shadow Minister for Energy and Renewables, Ryan Smith:
“The Victorian Liberal Nationals support renewable energy, reducing our emissions and investing in large scale battery technologies to store clean power.
“What we don’t support is building such batteries in areas that make neither environmental nor economic sense.
“This big battery should be built at Mortlake, as we proposed in June, not at Moorabool.”
