Origin Energy has officially opened its 300 MW / 650 MWh Mortlake Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in south-west Victoria, featuring 116 grid-forming battery inverters supplied by SMA Australia.
The facility, developed next to Origin’s existing Mortlake Power Station, was connected to the AusNet 500 kV switchyard through a dedicated substation. It was officially opened on 2 September with project partners and stakeholders.
SMA said its inverters enable grid-forming operation across the battery at utility scale. Unlike grid-following inverters, which synchronise with an existing grid voltage waveform, grid-forming systems can establish and regulate voltage and frequency at their point of connection.
This capability allows inverter-based resources such as batteries to respond to changing network conditions and provide services that support power-system stability. Such functions are expected to become increasingly important as conventional synchronous generation is replaced by greater levels of wind, solar and storage.
SMA Australia managing director of sales and corporate, John Alexander, said integrating grid-forming functionality across the 300 MW facility required detailed power-system modelling and technical coordination between the project partners.
SMA worked on the project alongside Origin, Fluence Energy and other partners. The company described Mortlake as a demonstration of grid-forming technology deployed at transmission-network scale.
The project adds large-scale storage capacity to Victoria’s electricity system, with its 650 MWh rating representing just over two hours of storage at its f
