Distributed Storage

Solar and battery retailers in Victoria will have to abide by a new consumer protection standards after the state government announced it will mandate a new stronger code that builds on the previous guidelines and expands them to include new energy technology including electric vehicle chargers.

China’s Bslbatt has added a rack-mounted battery to its ultra-sim range. It has a storage capacity of 5.12 kWh and a nominal voltage of 51.2 V. It measures 670 mm x 475 mm and is 89 mm thick.

Growatt is taking pre-sale orders for the Infinity 1300, a lithium iron phosphate battery with 3,000-plus cycle life.

Australian mining and processing company IGO and billionaire Andrew Forrest’s Wyloo Metals will progress plans to build the nation’s first integrated battery material facility in Western Australia after the state government approved the allocation of land for the up to $1 billion project.

Virtual Power Plants, or VPPs, are relatively mature in Australia due to the country’s high penetration of, and familiarity with, distributed energy resources. But claims of VPP success and participation may be overblown, with a considerable gaps between the numbers some platforms are claiming and the realms of possibility.

Germany’s SMA has developed a modular lithium-ion solution for commercial storage applications. It comes in two versions, with capacities of 32 kWh and 56 kWh. The two variants feature SMA Sunny Tripower Storage X battery inverters, with up to 8,000 complete charge cycles.

ARENA has opened the first application round for the government’s national community battery program, allocating $120 million (USD 81 million) to be split equally between networks and other applicants. The program was last week accused of rorting, with independent politicians revealing the locations for a proportion of the promised batteries were selected by the Labor party alone and not based on merit or need.

Record numbers of battery energy storage systems were installed in Australian homes and businesses in 2022 with energy industry consultancy SunWiz reporting more than 47,000 residential batteries were installed across the country last year, a 55% increase on the previous year.

Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, estimates the country could require a 10 to 14-fold increase in its electricity storage capacity between 2025-2050. It has released its energy storage report, forecasting demand in different sectors and summarising storage technologies.

Amprius has obtained third-party performance verification for a battery cell that offers high power density in a lightweight package.