Korea Zinc, Hanwha to co-work on Austrailian BESS project

Korea Zinc Inc., the world’s top lead and zinc smelter, said on Tuesday its Australian subsidiary Ark Energy selected Hanwha Corp. as the preferred negotiation partner for its local battery energy storage system (BESS) project.

Korea Zinc and Hanwha Group established a strategic partnership in September 2022 through a share exchange between Ark Energy and Hanwha Impact Co.'s US subsidiary, HPS Global.

The two companies plan to form a task force by the end of this month to discuss detailed terms, to sign a supply contract early next year.

Korea Zinc expects the contract value to reach several million US dollars.

Ark Energy will oversee the development of the main project. Hanwha will design, procure, and commission the battery storage systems.

Construction work is expected to begin in the third quarter of next year, with commissioning scheduled for 2026.

According to the contract, the project will provide up to 275 MW of power capacity and 2,200 MWh of energy storage services to the New South Wales power market for 14 years, for 8 hours daily.

Write to Sang Hoon Sung at uphoon@hankyung.com