100 Neighbourhood Battery Queenscliff
Mondo will be delivering a total of four batteries in Queenscliff. The batteries will store locally generated solar energy during periods of low demand and discharge energy during high-demand periods, helping to balance the two-way flow of electricity required by modern renewable energy systems.
Location: Queenscliff, Victoria
Timeframe: 2024 – current
Battery Sites:
1. Recreation Reserve Carpark, Queenscliff
2. Lower Princes Park – Junction of Wharf Street and Hygeia Drive, Queenscliff
3. Still under consideration
4. Still under consideration
Working with the Queenscliff community to design and build a sustainable energy solution
About the project
Mondo in collaboration with the Department of Energy Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), proposed the installation of 100kW/205kWh batteries at four separate locations across the Borough. Mondo has worked hard over the past 14 months to ensure we select the best locations.
These batteries, roughly the size of a Public phone booth, aim to act as “solar sponges,” soaking up excess solar energy for later use, helping to facilitate the transition towards renewable energy sources and supporting the community’s Climate Emergency Response Plan.
Mondo has worked closely with Queenscliffe Climate Action Now (QCAN) to develop a community donation model. QCAN will manage this fund, which will support local community renewable energy projects.
For further information or enquiries, please get in touch with the project team at community@mondo.com.au
Key deliverables
- 100kW/205kWh Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) batteries
- The battery size is approx. 2m x 2m
- The footprint will be approx. 3m x 5m
Benefits from our solution
Frequently Asked Questions
Victoria’s energy grid was originally designed for a one-way flow of power, moving energy from where it’s made to where it’s needed. Rooftop solar generation, and other renewable power generation, has introduced a more dynamic, two-way flow of electricity; something that the original energy grid was not designed for.
To maintain a stable electricity supply and to harness as much renewable energy as possible, we need more storage at the network, district, neighbourhood, and property levels.
The batteries will be charged and discharged with electricity from the wholesale energy market, typically charging from the grid during the day with solar energy and storing this energy until it is needed in the evening or early morning, when demand is high, and renewable energy supply is limited.
No. The batteries’ function is to improve the local network’s ability to absorb excess solar energy during the day and export during periods of higher demand. The batteries will not operate or provide back-up power during an outage. However, by storing excess solar the batteries may help address challenges associated with summer peak loads.
Neighbourhood-scale batteries are classified as minor utility installations under the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and do not typically require a planning permit. However, each site will be considered by Mondo and the Council with regard to overlays, specific values, heritage considerations, proximity to neighbours, and the presence of land effected by the Marine and Coastal Act.
The specific locations have not yet been fully finalised and are still subject to continuing conversation with the community and the results of a series of studies
Each individual battery is roughly the size of a standard public phone booth: 1.3m wide, 1.3m deep, and 2.4m tall. The battery will sit on a 2m x 2m steel platform together with a switchboard, which will be 1.9m wide, .4m deep, and 2.4m tall.
If there is a shortfall of locally generated solar energy, the battery will be charged from other grid-generated sources.
The batteries will utilise the stable lithium-iron phosphate (LiFePo4) battery chemistry, have multiple protection systems, a fire suppression system and remote monitoring.
A number of battery solutions that are manufactured in Australia are being considered.
We have been striving to share 2 batteries in each communities, but the number of sites that meet the diverse and complex suitability criteria is proving challenging. Two sites are yet to be confirmed as the proposed locations.
