The state of South Australia will raise the bar again in the fast-growing renewables-plus-storage sector with another record-breaking battery system.

Zen Energy, part of the Simec group owned by UK steel billionaire Sanjeev Gupta, will build a 120MW/140MWh battery at Port Augusta in the Australian state.

The storage facility – built to help supply a local steelworks in conjunction with a 200MW PV plant – will outstrip the 100MW/129MWh battery linked to the state’s Hornsdale wind farm and installed amid much fanfare by US tech pioneer Tesla.