Hydrostor Inc, in partnership with Australian advisory firm Energy Estate, plans to build a 200 MW Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) project in Broken Hill, New South Wales for an investment of about AUD560 million (US$431.18 million).
The project can support substantial local employment opportunities with 70 full-time jobs in the Broken Hill region and over 90 jobs in New South Wales as a whole over its 50+ project life.
In addition to the economic benefits, the A-CAES project at Broken Hill provides a long-term grid reliability solution to the remote mining community, in a manner that does not rely on fossil fuels, thereby eliminating potential supply chain disruptions and the need to truck in vast amounts of diesel fuel over large distances to ensure electrical supply. Moreover, the A-CAES project enables the community and mining operations to grow over time, serving an increasing electrical load in a cost-effective manner for the grid.
In 2020, Hydrostor’s 200 MW and 8 hours (or 1600 MWh) A-CAES system was selected by NSW’s Transmission Network Service Provider, Transgrid, as the preferred option in its Regulatory Investment Test for Transmission (RIT-T) for reliable and secure supply for Broken Hill. Hydrostor and Energy Estate are actively developing this project, which has received grant funding from the NSW Government’s Emerging Energy Program to complete pre-feasibility work.
