A battery storage facility being built on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula will be operational by May 2018 with construction to begin next month.
The 30 megawatt battery — which will be owned by ElectraNet — will be located at the Dalrymple substation, north of Yorketown.
The project is expected to cost about $30 million in total and is being partly funded by $12 million from the Federal Government.
ElectraNet today announced it had awarded the construction contract to Adelaide-based company Consolidated Power Projects (CPP).
Construction is due to begin this month, with the project expected to be complete within about eight months.
ElectraNet chief executive Steve Masters said the project would help SA "adapt" to its changing "energy mix and landscape".
"The battery will demonstrate how energy storage can strengthen the grid and improve reliability for the lower Yorke Peninsula," he said.
"It will work with AGL's existing 90 [megawatt] Wattle Point Wind Farm and rooftop solar [panels] to provide back-up power in the event of any interruption to supply from the grid until the grid is restored.
"In addition, the fast frequency response of the battery will improve power system security across the state by quickly injecting power into the grid following a disturbance."
South Australia had a statewide blackout last September and ongoing electricity supply concerns have prompted it to outline a raft of measures to improve network stability, including a 100MW battery being built by US company Tesla in the state's mid-north.
The Federal Government has previously said the Yorke Peninsula battery would help to secure a "weak point" in the state's energy system for nearly 5,000 households and 500 businesses in the area.
ElectraNet will lease the battery to AGL upon its completion.
CPP's regional manager Lloyd Bentley said his company was "delighted" to have been awarded the construction contract.
