Stanwell to pilot eight-hour battery at Queensland coal-plant site

• Stanwell will host an eight-hour battery from Quinbrook at a coal-station site in Queensland, forming the anchor of a larger storage hub.

Queensland government-owned Stanwell Corporation will host an eight-hour battery at an existing coal-station site, delivered by Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners as part of a planned storage hub. The project marks a decisive pivot from thermal baseload to long-duration flexibility—precisely the capability Australia’s National Electricity Market (NEM) needs as solar penetration deepens and evening ramps steepen.

Eight hours matters. Two-hour batteries excel at frequency response and short shifting; eight-hour systems cover the entire dusk peak, reduce reliance on gas peakers, and enhance resilience during prolonged events. Sited at a strong node with transmission in place, the hub can absorb midday surplus, firm supply after sunset, and provide synthetic inertia and voltage support via grid-forming inverters.

Technically, expect containerized lithium-ion blocks with sectionalized fire safety, robust thermal management, and redundant controls. A supervisory energy management system will co-optimize arbitrage, contingency FCAS markets, and capacity obligations, while maintaining state of charge for high-value periods. Co-location at a coal site streamlines interconnection and leverages existing land, access roads, and substation equipment—accelerating delivery and minimizing greenfield risk.

Community and environmental planning are standard: traffic and noise controls, landscaped buffers, drainage sized for extreme rain, and emergency response protocols with local fire services. Long-term stewardship includes responsible recycling pathways and decommissioning provisions.

Strategically, the storage hub is a just-transition blueprint—keeping energy jobs local while repurposing legacy infrastructure. For the NEM, it’s a flexible anchor: fewer price spikes, less curtailment of daytime solar, and faster frequency recovery during disturbances. As data-center growth and electrification lift evening demand, assets like Stanwell’s will become the backbone of reliable, low-carbon supply.

With Quinbrook leading delivery, early procurement of transformers, switchgear, and protection gear will be critical to schedule. Staged commissioning can bring blocks online as others complete, turning the hub into a working asset sooner rather than later.