Vector signs multi-million battery storage deal

Vector signs multi-million battery storage deal with Territory Generation in Alice Springs

By Paul McBeth

June 23 (BusinessDesk) - Vector beat rivals to supply Australia's Territory Generation with battery storage technology in a multi-million deal for the New Zealand firm.

Auckland-based Vector won the Alice Springs battery energy storage system project in a competitive tender to provide a 5 megawatt system to help improve the Northern Territory's energy network. While Vector currently has smart meters in Australia, the Territory Generation contract is its first battery storage foray across the Tasman.

Vector will design, engineer, build and install the battery storage and is responsible for continuing maintenance, it said in a statement.

"You see so many countries now looking to decarbonise, and customers being much more engaged in having choices around energy," chief executive Simon Mackenzie told BusinessDesk. " This technology is not only a much better solution than deploying traditional network assets putting in things like batteries and control environments and demonstrating how can be used not only lowers network costs but also provides customer choice."

Vector has three other opportunities across the Tasman, some of which are in the final stages, Mackenzie said.

Last year the company installed a utility-scale battery at the substation in the Auckland suburb of Glen Innes, while its home battery fleet - often paired with solar technology - was at 445 as at Dec. 31 from 291 a year earlier.

Mackenzie says Vector has taken a lead in the technology space and has also expanded its suite of services with acquisitions of E-Co Products Group, better known as home ventilation firm HRV, and solar power firm PowerSmart.

Vector also holds the exclusive Australasian rights to use Israeli developer mPrest's software to integrate and develop new energy services and manage a number of technologies on its network. That opens opportunities for the company to pitch the network management tool alongside solar and battery products as commercial customers look to "procure energy in a much smarter way," Mackenzie said.

The shares rose 0.3 percent to $3.27, having gained 0.6 percent so far this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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