Distributed Storage

Energy storage solutions manufacturer Chelion Australia has unveiled a new all-in-one lithium iron phosphate battery cabinet for commercial applications.

The City of Sydney Council has taken the first step to eliminate gas connections in all new residential and commercial properties across the municipality despite the New South Wales government having previously ruled out a statewide ban.

Chinese battery industry heavyweight Contemporary Amperex Technology has unveiled a new electric vehicle battery that reportedly enables long-range driving on a fast, 10-minute charge. It expects mass production to begin by the end of this year, and vehicles equipped with the battery to be available in the first quarter of 2024.

South Australia’s Flinders University has launched a trial that will test bidirectional vehicle-to-grid charging technology that allows electric vehicles to either be recharged or used as batteries to provide back-up power to the grid.

Biwatt Power, a Chinese manufacturer, has developed new residential sodium-ion batteries with an efficiency rate of 97% and a projected lifespan of more than 3,000 cycles.

Western Australia battery tech company Altech Batteries has raised $13.3 million (USD 8.7 million) to advance the development and commercialisation of its sodium-chloride solid state battery project and to progress construction of a silumina anodes battery materials plant in Germany.

Australian households that make the shift to all-electric energy-efficient appliances, combined with solar panels, battery storage and electric vehicles, could save $3,500 a year by 2030 and $4,320 by 2050 compared with a fossil-fuelled household that relies on gas appliances and petrol or diesel vehicles.

Origin Energy and supermarket giant Coles have partnered to deploy 20 MW of solar at up to 100 supermarkets and liquor stores throughout Australia in a deal that will allow the energy gentailer to use excess electricity generated by the installs to ease pressure on the grid during peak demand periods.

Pilbara Minerals and Australian technology company Calix have received board approvals to build a ‘game changing’ processing plant to produce value-added lithium product at the miner’s flagship Pilgangoora project in Western Australia.

Queensland-based investment platform Clean Energy Transfer Fund intends to circumvent lengthy lead times and major capital outlays associated with grid-scale renewables projects by deploying hundreds of sub 5 MW energy storage units throughout Australia to create coordinated battery ‘hives’ of up to 200 MWh each.