Aurecon powers big battery projects in Melbourne and Canberra

International design, engineering and advisory company Aurecon has supported two large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects to achieve major milestones, the Rangebank BESS and the Big Canberra Battery. 

Located in Cranbourne, Victoria, the Rangebank BESS has seen Aurecon conduct technical due diligence for project financiers, supporting Macquarie Asset Management’s Green Investment Group (GIG) and Shell Energy in reaching financial close for the project. 

The Victorian project will boast 200-megawatt / 400-megawatt-hour storage capacity once fully operational, capable of powering the equivalent of 80,000 homes across Victoria for an hour during peak periods. 

Aurecon will become the owner’s engineer as the project moves into construction and delivery phases, looking after design review, co-ordination and quality control of engineering, construction, inspection, testing and commissioning. The project is scheduled for completion in late 2024. 

For the Big Canberra Battery project, Aurecon supported Eku Energy, launched by Macquarie’s Green Investment Group, on their submission to the ACT Government with project options, and pre-feasibility technical advice. 

Awarded to Eku Energy by the ACT government in mid-April 2023, the 250-megawatt / 500 megawatt-hour battery is expected to be completed in 2025. 

Tomas Keraitis, Energy Networks Advisory Leader, at Aurecon said, “We are excited about the future of the Rangebank BESS and the Big Canberra Battery, and congratulate Macquarie Group, Eku Energy and Shell Energy on their respective successes. 

“Batteries will increasingly play an instrumental role in Australia’s energy transition. They inject flexibility into an energy market where currently there is a need for dispatchable capacity to complement variable renewable energy.” 

Aurecon’s contribution to the Rangebank project included evaluating the technical and techno-commercial risk profile, confirming the effectiveness and appropriateness of the project’s risk mitigation plans, ad-hoc technical advice pertaining to the project, sensemaking key technical concepts to lenders, and responding to Q&A from lenders.   

“Aurecon applies a risk-based approach to due diligence. Conducting due diligence for these projects requires significant industry experience – not only deep expertise in financing, feasibility, concept design delivery and operation of utility-scale BESS projects, but also the ability to communicate best practice, industry norms, and what good looks like with a wide range of stakeholders,” added Keraitis.   

To date, Aurecon has provided project planning, engineering feasibility, technical due diligence, procurement, design and owner’s engineer services for a combined 3000MWh+ of BESS projects in the Australian National Electricity Market, such as the Hornsdale Power Reserve. 

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