Clean energy developer Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has nominated Canadian Solar’s e-storage division as the preferred major contractor to build the 240 MW/480 MWh Summerfield Battery Energy Storage System being developed in South Australia’s Murraylands region.

Canadian Solar will supply its Solbank technology for the battery energy storage system with CIP saying a final investment decision on the project is due next year, with construction to begin by 2025.

CIP said the Summerfield project will initially have two hours of storage but there is scope for expansion to meet future market demand.

“The 240 MW Summerfield battery will provide much-needed storage and grid stability, storing excess supply during low demand periods and delivering power back to the grid when it is needed most,” the company said. “This is vital to maintaining a reliable and affordable electricity supply to South Australia, Victoria and the wider national energy grid.”

The project is being developed on land at Tepko, about 60 kilometres east of Adelaide. CIP said the site is “strategically positioned” on the proposed 275 kV South East transmission line expansion which will bring in new renewable generation from the South East Renewable Energy Zone (REZ).

“We are excited about the role this battery will play in ensuring continued energy reliability for South Australians, and to be a catalyst for the transmission investment needed to unlock the South East Renewable Energy Zone,” CIP Australia head Jørn Hammer said.

“This is an easy win as far as transmission investment goes.”

CIP said the Summerfield battery is the first of multiple large-scale battery projects it has planned for Australia and part of a $100 billion development pipeline that includes offshore and onshore wind, renewable hydrogen, pumped hydro and battery storage.

A leading player in developing renewable energy projects in Europe, CIP is seeking to expands its presence in Australia to capitalise on opportunities in the energy transition.

Among the projects in its portfolio is the proposed Bowen Renewable Energy Hub project, a 1.4 GW integrated energy generation and storage project being developed in Queensland, and the gigawatt-scale Evergreen green hydrogen production hub planned for South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula.

It is also developing the 2.2 GW Star of the South offshore wind project off the Victorian coastline and the 5.2 GW Murchison Hydrogen Renewables project being developed near the Western Australian coastal town of Kalbarri.