Plans to improve power reliability in Mallacoota will be presented at a public information session at the Mud Brick Pavilion on Wednesday, November 21.

Member for Gippsland East, Tim Bull, has encouraged local residents to attend the information session, starting at 7pm, where the Mallacoota Area Grid Storage (MAGS) proposal will be discussed.

MAGS is a $2.5 million project aimed at improving power reliability in the township through the installation of large-scale lithiumion batteries to be charged from the grid.

“Mallacoota is set to be one of the first towns in Australia to have a grid connected energy storage system included in its local network, with AusNet Services recently announcing its plans to install a large-scale lithiumion battery towards the end of 2019,” Mr Bull said.

AusNet Services spokesman, Alistair Parker, said the project involves the establishment of a power storage facility – a large-scale battery, generator, and associated equipment – connected to the electricity grid in Mallacoota.

“Mallacoota was chosen because of its location at the end of a long radial high voltage line from Bairnsdale,” Mr Parker said.

“As such, it has been historically susceptible to power outages caused by storms, vegetation, and animals, and has also suffered the impact of restoration delays as crews travel long distances to undertake repairs in the area. “MAGS is expected to reduce the number of local outage events by around 90 per cent and includes both planned and unplanned outages (faults). “We anticipate that MAGS will be operational around early September 2019. We expect to transport the battery down from Melbourne in March, and we are aiming to commission the new facility well before the next summer season.”

AusNet Services said the MAGS battery, to be situated at the East Gippsland Water treatment plant, could power 1000 average homes for approximately two hours.