Epic Energy battery, with its solar farms at Mannum in Riverland of South Australia, to help stabilise energy grid
The site for Epic Energy's battery storage project at Mannum on the South Australian Riverland would be that vacant plot (main image) immediately to the left of the solar panels and substation. Inset: The full extent of Epic Energy's two solar farms at Mannum.
Images courtesy Epic Energy
South Australia’s Epic Energy announced a $130 million battery storage project in 2024 to capture renewable energy generated by its two solar farms at Mannum, 90 kiolmetres east of Adelaide.
Epic Energy, based on Adelaide, would partner with energy storage specialist e-STORAGE – a subsidiary of Canadian Solar – to deliver the project. The battery will be bigger than the previously “world’s largest” at Hornsale Power Reserve in South Australia’s mid north but slightly smaller than the one installed by AGL at Torrens Island in Adelaide’s northwest in 2023.
Epic Energy chief executive Clive D’Cruz said the project would be a much-needed support the supply of excess remewable energy during peak periods to help stability in South Australia and on the national energy grid: “The battery energy storage solution will absorb surplus energy during times of low demand that can then be directed into the grid to help support the consistent supply of renewable energy to South Australian consumers, and the national grid, in peak periods.”
The battery energy storage solution would feature high-cycle capacity LFP (lithium iron phosphate) cells and provide about 220 MWh (megawatt house) of direct current. It would use technology from Canadian Solar subsidiary e-STORAGE, featuring a top-tier active balancing battery management system and an efficient thermal management system. Epic Energy's two solar farms at Mannum captured 46 MWp (megawatt peak) of the Riverland sunlight to provide clean energy to industrial customers.
The battery added to Epic Energy's portfolio of energy assets, ranging from wind and solar farms to microgrids and standalone storage in South Australia and Victoria. The company also owned and operated the gas pipeline spanning 1200 kilometres of South Australia, and was part of a consortium delivering the state government’s Hydrogen Jobs Plan at Whyalla.
