battery storage central irrigation trust

Australia’s Central Irrigation Trust cuts energy costs through battery storage

One of Australia’s largest battery storage systems will help save on electricity bills

Riverland Region, South Australia

Central Irrigation Trust (CIT)

Water Utilities

Enel X is about to deliver its first integrated battery energy storage project in Australia with Central Irrigation Trust (CIT), a company that manages an irrigation pipeline for thousands of farmers in a dry region in the south of Australia. The batteries will help CIT “intelligently manage” its energy use at its on-site water pumps, by installing around 13 MWh of battery storage at five of its sites. This landmark project for the Australian market demonstrates that large distributed batteries hosted on commercial and industrial sites is a viable solution for their energy needs.

The client

Central Irrigation Trust (CIT) is headquartered in Barmera, South Australia, an arid and remote region where most of the residents are farmers producing grapes for wine, almonds and other fruits. CIT develops best water management practices to deliver irrigation water from the Murray River through its 13 pressured and energy-intensive pipeline water delivery systems. Some 1500 family and corporate farms and 3000 households, community and industrial customers in the Riverland Region of South Australia rely on CIT for the water they need to live and to make a living.

The agreement’s benefits

13 MWh

of batteries across five sites

5

sites for CIT

13

water pumping stations

Enel X’s challenge

CIT’s 13 water pumping stations are energy-intensive, accounting for around 40% of operating costs. With energy prices on the rise, the company was looking for a way to reduce them where possible both for CIT and to minimise increases for customer charges. In order to achieve this goal, CIT chose Enel X as its trusted energy partner, adopting our battery energy storage system as the solution.

Enel X has signed an agreement to install around 13 MWh of batteries across five sites for CIT – Waikerie, Berri, Chaffey, Loveday, Loxton – making it one of Australia's largest battery storage systems at the moment. Enel X manages everything from end-to-end project delivery, and also the battery system’s optimization through its proprietary software (DER.OS), and integration with its Virtual Power Plant (VPP), as well as maintenance and support.

The batteries enable CIT to reduce its electricity bills by allowing it to store energy when it is abundant and costs are lower to use it when costs are higher (such as in the heat-intensive summer months).

Designed to maximise the economic value of battery systems, Enel X’s DER.OS software uses advanced machine-learning and AI algorithms to analyse unlimited data including CIT’s on-site energy demand, weather forecast inputs, electricity grid conditions and more.

By analyzing this data, DER.OS then optimises CIT’s battery system’s charge and discharge strategy to adapt to site demand and market price changes. DER.OS also interacts with Enel X’s Virtual Power Plant (VPP) platform, so that it can access Demand Response programs which feed CIT’s extra stored energy back into the grid if needed, providing a new revenue stream. The VPP will be aggregated to allow the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to better manage supply and demand on the grid.