Vicinity Centres has entered into an agreement to power its shopping malls with onsite batteries, furthering its net zero goals.
Vicinity has signed a joint venture with Enel X, a world leader in onsite battery storage systems and Virtual Power Plant platforms for a pilot program at two centres.
Work has commenced on the two centres: at Broadmeadows Central in Victoria, and at Lake Haven Centre in New South Wales. The two centres will have a combined capacity of over 5MWh,
“The commercial collaboration with Enel X will help drive our Integrated Energy Strategy by delivering energy storage systems to our centres that complement our existing solar power installations,” explained Justin Mills, Chief Information & Innovation Officer, Vicinity Centres.
“The batteries will support green energy use and the electricity grid. Vicinity’s Energy Team has worked tirelessly on this trial and our integrated energy strategy over the last five years.”
Matt Schultz, Head of Energy Storage, Enel X Australia, said, “Energy storage is needed at all levels in Australia – utility, commercial, and residential – where we have the highest percentage of rooftop solar in the world, to integrate this renewable energy.
“These projects will help Vicinity reduce costs by optimising the batteries’ charge and discharge strategy with our proprietary optimisation software.”
Vicinity plans to expand across other centres, with the potential to deploy more than 50MWh of battery storage or the equivalent of 5,000 home batteries.
