- PRESS RELEASE -
Melbourne, Australia – 14 January 2021 – AGL today announced its selection of Fluence, a Siemens and AES company, to supply projects within AGL’s planned 1,000 megawatts (MW) of grid-scale battery-based energy storage assets in Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) under a non-exclusive framework agreement.
AGL announced in 2020 its commitment to build 850 MW of battery-based assets by 2024, located near its Loy Yang A power station in Victoria (200 MW), Liddell (150 MW) and Broken Hill power stations in New South Wales (50 MW), and Torrens Island power station in South Australia (250 MW).
“The next few years will be pivotal for Australia’s transition towards a more decarbonized grid, and AGL is starting at the scale of the challenge: supporting the NEM’s shift to a higher percentage of renewables with large-scale flexibility,” said Fluence Vice President of Global Markets Jan Teichmann.
“Fluence will bring to AGL’s portfolio of projects what we’ve delivered around the world - the longest experience and most proven technology in the industry, paired with best-in-class optimization and market bidding software to deliver long life and strong performance,” Teichmann said. “These projects will help strengthen the grid, deliver more clean energy to consumers and advance AGL on its net zero journey.”
“Fluence is a global leader in energy storage technologies, ensuring we are investing in the highest standards for performance, reliability and safety,” AGL Chief Operating Officer Markus Brokhof said. “We’re excited to see our grid-scale battery plans begin to come to life; we know energy storage technology is critical in creating cleaner and smarter distributed energy infrastructure.”
The global market leader in energy storage technology solutions and services, Fluence belongs to the small group of companies that have successfully secured interconnection for a grid-scale battery-based energy storage project in Australia -- the 30 MW/30 MWh solution deployed at AusNet Services’ Ballarat Terminal Station in Victoria.
Fluence’s latest-generation Gridstack energy storage system will support the NEM by providing support on weak areas of the network by delivering synthetic inertia – where the battery controls and power electronics mimic the inertial response of conventional thermal generation like coal or gas – as well as other key grid stability services and flexible capacity to meet peak power needs. Overall, these projects will reduce the need for similar services traditionally provided by natural gas in Australia.
Today’s agreement with AGL follows a period of significant growth for Fluence over the past year. In December, Fluence secured a commitment from the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) to invest $125 million in the company through a private placement transaction that raises Fluence’s valuation to over USD $1 billion. In October, Fluence announced its acquisition of Advanced Microgrid Solutions’ (AMS) digital intelligence platform and AI-driven forecasting and market bidding software, and in June, Fluence announced its sixth-generation Tech Stack, built on 12 years of industry-leading technology innovation and comprised of integrated hardware (Fluence Cube), software (Fluence OS) and digital intelligence engines (Fluence IQ).
In addition to scaling up both technology and funding for future growth, Fluence has also significantly expanded its portfolio of projects under construction:
- Delivering nearly 1 gigawatt of energy storage assets in California by the end of 2021, including several recently completed megaprojects totaling 400 MW / 1600 MWh;
- Contracting to deploy a fleet of energy storage assets totaling over 500 MW, providing critical grid stability services on a single national grid in southeast Asia;
- Securing agreements to supply over 700 MW of storage projects across the UK and Ireland, including two UK storage projects totaling over 500 MW to provide flexible peaking capacity and 90 MW of super-fast storage assets (1, 2, 3) providing Fast Frequency Response on the island of Ireland.
About Fluence
Fluence, a Siemens and AES company, is the global market leader in energy storage technology solutions and services, combining the agility of a technology company with the expertise, vision and financial backing of two well-established and respected industry giants. Building on the pioneering work of AES Energy Storage and Siemens energy storage, the company’s goal is to create a more sustainable future by transforming the way we power our world. Providing design, delivery and integration, Fluence offers proven energy storage technology solutions that address the diverse needs and challenges of customers in a rapidly transforming energy landscape. The company currently has more than 2.4 gigawatts of projects in operation or awarded across 24 countries and territories worldwide. Fluence topped the Navigant Research utility-scale energy storage leaderboard in 2018 and was named one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2019. In 2020, its sixth-generation Tech Stack won Commercial Technology of the Year at the 22nd annual S&P Global Platts Global Energy Awards.
To learn more about Fluence, please visit: fluenceenergy.com.
About AGL
Proudly Australian for more than 180 years, AGL supplies around 4.2 million services to customers, including energy, phone and broadband services. We’re committed to making energy, alongside other essential services, simple, fair and transparent. AGL operates the largest electricity portfolio in the National Electricity Market made up of traditional coal and gas-fired generation, and renewables such as wind, hydro and solar. We also operate gas storage and production assets. We’re focussed on developing flexible supply, building on our history as Australia’s leading private investor in renewable energy, to support the transition to a new energy system. We have a passionate belief in progress and a relentless determination to make things better for our communities, customers, the Australian economy and our planet.
To learn more about AGL, please visit: agl.com.au.
Media Contact
Steven Goldman
Regional Marketing Manager, Asia Pacific
Mobile: +61 435 222 329
Email: steven.goldman@fluenceenergy.com
