New Zealand’s first big battery is scheduled for construction in Ruakaka, on the country’s North Island, about 150 kilometers north of Auckland. The battery system is the first stage of a project that will go on to include a co-located 130 MW solar farm. The battery and solar farm will be part of Meridian Energy’s envisioned Ruakaka Energy Park – one of the biggest renewable projects planned for the country.

French-headquartered Saft will supply 80 of its modular “Intensium Shift” battery containers and power conversion equipment for the project. It will also handle installation and commissioning, and provide 20 years of operational services.

The 3 MWh containers, described by Saft as “scalable building blocks,” use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) technology with 40 inverters, Freemaq PCSK GEN3, 20 medium-voltage power stations, and a third-party power management system.

Construction on the Ruakaka battery energy storage system is set to begin in the first quarter of this year. The battery is expected to go online in the second half of 2024.