Parliamentary Committees

Public Works Committee: Lake Bonney Battery Energy Storage System

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:43): I move:

That the 32^nd report of the committee for the Fifth-Fourth Parliament, entitled Lake Bonney Battery Energy Storage System, be noted.

In 2017, the South Australian government established a Renewable Technology Fund to incentivise the deployment of the next generation of storage technology. The Department for Energy and Mining advised the Public Works Committee that four of the projects awarded grant funding under the Renewable Technology Fund required referral to the Public Works Committee as the projects grants equalled or exceeded $4 million. The projects to be referred included the Lake Bonney battery energy storage system.

The Parliamentary Committees Act 1991 requires that no funds should be expended on actual public works until the work has first been examined by the Public Works Committee and the final report presented to the parliament. The Public Works Committee has been advised that some construction-related milestone payments have already been paid in relation to the Lake Bonney battery energy storage project. The Department for Energy and Mining has submitted the project to the Public Works Committee for consideration. The committee held a public hearing for the project on 17 October 2019 and heard evidence from officers of the Department for Energy and Mining.

The Lake Bonney battery energy storage project involves the design, installation, testing and commercial operation of a 25-megawatt and 52-megawatt Tesla battery energy storage system that is co-located with the existing 278.5-megawatt Lake Bonney Wind Farm in South Australia. The battery is expected to provide additional dispatchable generation in the state to help meet peak demand.

The primary objectives of the project are to generate energy cost savings for customers and to provide system security services to the South Australian distribution network. When fully charged, the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) will have 52 megawatt hours of stored electricity for dispatch through the network.

The Public Works Committee has scrutinised written and oral evidence in relation to this project, and the committee is satisfied that the proposal has been subject to the appropriate agency consultation and meets the criteria for examination of projects as described in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991. Having given regard to the evidence considered, and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, I am pleased to report to parliament that the Public Works Committee recommends the scope of the proposed public works.

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (11:46): I certainly support this report from the very capable Chair of the Public Works Committee. I want to put on the record the importance of this development. It is not a development on its own; we now have four grid-scale batteries in South Australia, which is something we called for very strongly while in opposition throughout the debate on energy policy. Energy policy was one of the key features leading up to the last election but extended for around two or three years before the election.

This battery, which is being reported on today, is in Lake Bonney in the South-East. We also have another battery at Dalrymple at the bottom of Yorke Peninsula, one in Lincoln Gap near Port Augusta, and everyone would be aware of the 100-megawatt battery in Hornsdale, near Jamestown. That battery will soon become 150 megawatts, or I think a total of around 195 megawatt hours of capacity.

This is important because it is part of our government's policy to harness renewable energy. Renewable energy is fantastic. It is absolutely terrific for so many reasons we are all aware of, but we need to harness it so that it works for consumers and so that it is affordable, reliable and dispatchable on demand. Grid-scale storage is a key part of that, but grid-scale storage does much more: it has the capacity to help with frequency control, voltage control and also with providing synthetic inertia.

Those things will help us avoid a significant number of blackouts. We have had blackouts in this state at times when we have not had enough electricity to meet demand and also at times when there were shocks to the system. These are usually caused by under or over frequency, under or over voltage, and insufficient inertia.

I hope and expect that over time there will be more of these batteries. They are a critical part of the Marshall government's energy policy and they will remain incredibly valuable in providing a range of services in our electricity system for decades to come.

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:48): I am certainly very appreciative of the minister's additional insight and his commitment, not only to this project but to the scope of works right throughout the state, to ensure that we have energy security, that we are meeting our commitment to deliver cleaner energy in this state, and to adopt new, versatile and useful technology that I am sure will continue to serve our interests for many years.

I know that the minister has brought a great deal of horsepower and focus to this topic. He has rolled out a battery scheme that is the envy of other states and the commonwealth. It was featured in the course of the last federal election campaign. It takes real commitment, passion and thoughtfulness to deliver a project of that scope and magnitude. It also takes courage to drive real reform. We cannot overlook in this place the minister's commitment to real reform in the energy market in South Australia and this government's commitment to reducing energy costs as well.

We know, of course, that standing offer arrangements have reduced energy prices for those moving to a standing offer and also that energy prices in the market are experiencing a decline. This government's policies are putting downward pressure on prices in South Australia. This is not an easy market to correct, in view of the policies of the previous government, but the minister certainly has the courage to ensure that our policies are delivered.

Motion carried.