Hydrostor, a global long duration energy storage (LDES) developer and operator, has been awarded a Long-Term Energy Service Agreement (LTESA) by AEMO Services, as part of the New South Wales (NSW) government Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap, for its Silver City Energy Storage project (Silver City) in Broken Hill.
200 MW Silver City Energy Storage Centre. Image Credit: Hydrostor
The announcement marks a significant step forward for Australia’s clean energy transition and demonstrates the critical role that long duration energy storage will play in providing affordable, reliable, and emission-free electricity to power homes and businesses.
“We are delighted to be awarded this LTESA, which is a big vote of confidence in not only long duration energy storage, but also our compressed air solution as a key technology pathway for decarbonisation and grid reliability across Australia” said Curtis VanWalleghem, CEO of Hydrostor.
“This provides a model for getting much-needed firming capacity into Australian electricity markets, and we applaud the innovative leadership shown by the NSW Government and AEMO Services to support the development of clean and flexible power resources.”
Martin Becker, Hydrostor’s Vice President of Business Development and Origination in Australia said, “Having reached this critical milestone, we are looking forward to progressing the permitting for our Silver City project and building on local partnerships in Broken Hill. We are excited to help contribute to the shared prosperity of the region through jobs and clean, reliable energy.”
A first-of-its-kind energy storage project for Australia, the LTESA contract demonstrates the important capabilities of Hydrostor’s Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) technology, which will be deployed at Silver City to provide 200 MW of renewable energy storage for up to eight hours.
The Silver City project will bring significant benefits to the region, contributing an estimated $1 billion to the local economy alongside significant employment, skills, and training opportunities, including 750 direct and indirect jobs during construction and 70 ongoing jobs once in operation.
Hydrostor is developing a growing pipeline of large-scale projects across the world and when completed, Silver City will be one of the largest A-CAES facilities globally.
LTESA’s provide an important policy framework to encourage investment in large energy infrastructure projects such as Silver City that directly benefit NSW residents and are a key part of the NSW Government’s Electricity Infrastructure Investment Safeguard.