International energy investor Quinbrook said a few days ago that it is developing and constructing a data center called "Supernode" in Brendale, Queensland, Australia. and data, in which a 2GWh battery energy storage system is deployed.
Quinbrook said it had received approval from the local planning permission and foreign investment review board, as well as 30 hectares of land for the proposed development in Queensland's Moreton Bay area.
The data centre will be built near a substation connected to the Queensland grid, while its battery storage system will join Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM).
Quinbrook expects to have four data centers for multi-tenant use, a "supernode" data center that will support net-zero emissions data operations, and three separate high-voltage transmission lines that can provide 800MW of power.
Quinbrook said it would also develop, procure and build more renewable energy facilities to make the most of Queensland's abundant and cheap wind and solar resources.
The investment group specializes in investing in projects related to renewable energy infrastructure. As a result, the company has invested in some of the largest independently deployed battery and solar-plus-storage projects around the world.
Other projects by the company and its U.S. subsidiaries include projects in key renewable energy markets such as California and Texas. Meanwhile, Quinbrook is deploying a 230MW/460MWh battery storage system at a disused coal-fired power plant in Wales, UK.
The company is also deploying a major project in Queensland, a planned natural gas power plant and a battery energy storage system in the Lockyer Valley region, which was approved by the state's Planning and Environment Court (P&ECourt) in April.
Quinbrook said the "supernode" data center energy facility will help reduce electricity prices by integrating renewable energy into the grid and making it dispatchable, while helping to ensure the reliability of the power supply.
At the same time, customers of the data center should be able to realize significant cost reductions using renewable electricity.
Queensland has historically been Australia's most carbon-emitting state, so the state government is working on an energy transition.
Queensland's recently announced budget includes investment in a 400MWh battery storage system as well as 13 smaller battery storage systems with a combined storage capacity of 8MWh. In addition, there are some large-scale battery projects developed and deployed through state-owned power companies.
In terms of adopting other energy storage technologies, the state government is financially supporting feasibility studies for large-scale pumped hydro storage (PHES), while also investing in vanadium electrolyte production facilities for the flow battery industry. Queensland has started construction of a flow battery production plant that uses different electrolyte compounds, iron and brine to produce flow batteries.
