00:00Big batteries like this one in the Latrobe Valley will be popping up all over regional Australia.
00:07For example, this power plant here is 150 megawatts but the Victorian government alone
00:15says that in the next 10 years there's going to be a need for about three and a half thousand
00:21megawatts of storage power. So we're standing here at NG's Hazelwood battery in the Latrobe
00:27Valley in Victoria. This is a 150 megawatt battery and can last for one hour and what
00:33that basically means is it can store the rooftop solar output from about 30,000 average Australian
00:37homes. It's a really interesting site because people, particularly Victorians, will know that
00:42the Latrobe Valley is historically the source of power in the state. It's the site of three
00:47big coal mines, the first of which has been closed here at Hazelwood and historically four
00:52big power stations, the first of which Hazelwood power station was demolished. It's a really
00:58interesting site because you can see what a clean energy future can actually look like.
01:01We've now had a coal power station demolished, we've got a mine that's been currently rehabilitated
01:06and here the Hazelwood battery is the first that was built on the site of a former coal
01:09power station. So it gives you an idea of what the future could look like not only here in
01:13the Latrobe Valley but also across Australia as we move away from coal and towards renewable
01:20energy. The way we get our energy is typically through this transmission line. So this feeds
01:28directly into the Victorian grid. So right now we're probably going to be charging at this
01:35time of day and that'll be basically on a mixture of coal, wind, definitely solar, and a mixture
01:44of those combined resources what's going to basically be charging the battery itself.
01:50Batteries form two key roles. The first one really is about making sure that the frequency
01:56of the grid, the way it basically runs, remains stable. And then the second very important one
02:02is that it's going to basically move the energy that's generated during the day like when it's
02:07you know sunny and there's lots of solar and wind. So restore that energy and then discharge
02:12it in the evening when we need it more.
02:16Look, it's an exciting time ahead. Lots of opportunities to develop more batteries. There's potential
02:24to develop another one, sort of a sister site right next door. So very much looking forward
02:29to that happening.
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