Port Macquarie Base Hospital Gets Battery Storage

New South Wales’ Port Macquarie Base Hospital is now boasting a big battery to go with its big rooftop solar power system.

Port Macquarie Base Hospital is a 228-bed level 5¹ healthcare facility with a 24-hour emergency department, and offers a wide range of specialist and other services.

Hospitals are huge consumers of electricity, but also generally have huge rooftops; making these facilities excellent candidates for commercial solar installations.

A few years back, Port Macquarie Base Hospital was chosen as a pilot site for a large-scale solar installation as part of a Mid North Coast Local Health District (MNCLHD) $7 million program to implement  energy efficiency measures across its health facilities.

Installed in 2018, the 609kW system consisted of more than 2,000 solar panels and was expected to save around $130,000 in electricity costs annually – money that is being returned to frontline health services. The capacity was then expanded to 770kW, which at the time was the largest rooftop solar installation on an Australian hospital.

Battery To Bring Bigger Energy Bill Savings

Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams announced on Monday the Hospital has installed a 2.25 MWh battery storage system to make better use of the facility’s rooftop PV.

“This innovative project is expected to save the hospital at least $81,000 each year and reduce emissions by over 3,327 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, while helping the NSW Government to meet our solar targets under the Government Resource Efficiency Policy,” said Ms. Williams. “It will reduce pressure on the local electricity network through a significant reduction in peak demand from the hospital and also enable the hospital to generate additional revenue by selling valuable services back to the grid.”

While there’s not much in the way of further detail on the system at this point, judging by the photo and other documents it appears to have been supplied by Melbourne’s EVO Power, which works with various technology partners including CATL, LG and Delta.

Smart Energy Lab’s Glen Morris caught up with EVO Power’s Jamie Allen at the Smart Energy Expo in Sydney last year to discuss EVO’s commercial and industrial energy storage solutions.

EVO Power mentioned last month it is moving into its new factory in April, which is five times larger than its current premises.

The Port Macquarie Base Hospital project has been supported by the NSW Government’s Smart Batteries for Key Government Buildings initiative, which was established to support the installation of battery storage at schools, hospitals and other government buildings with existing rooftop solar systems. The initiative will help inform future uptake of batteries across the wider government portfolio.

In 2020/21, the initiative installed 355 kilowatt-hours of battery storage in seven schools and commenced procurement of 14 solar battery systems to be installed at Property NSW sites. The NSW Climate Change Fund Annual Report 2020–21 also makes mention of the Port Macquarie Base Hospital project, stating the system was to be a 1.6 MWh battery – so it appears to have had a capacity boost since then.