Energy Storage

Spark Renewables, part of the listed network investment company Spark Infrastructure, intends to develop a 1 GW hybrid wind, solar and battery storage hub near Murulan in the New South Wales Southern Tablelands as it continues its push into green power.

Remote power system specialist Circular Solutions is poised to begin work on a new solar farm and battery energy storage system that will more than double the PV generation capacity at the small community of Wurrumiyanga on Bathurst Island off Australia’s northern coastline.

Ahead of the impending closure of the coal-fired Eraring Power Station, the New South Wales Government has given the planning green light for the largest committed battery energy storage system in the southern hemisphere.

A combined 60 MW of solar and 25 MWh of energy storage will be deployed at military sites across Australia as part of a government strategy to increase energy independence and security at the country’s Department of Defence facilities.

EnergyAustralia’s growing appetite for grid-scale energy storage shows no signs of abating with the gen-tailer announcing it has received approval to construct a 350 MW four-hour battery in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley where its Yallourn coal mine and power station are set to close in 2028.

Western Australia-based AVESS is set to deploy demonstration batteries at a WA mine site in the second half of the year. The deployment is about proving the company’s technology, as it plans to move towards manufacturing the flow batteries in Australia from 2024.

International oil giant Shell has provided New South Wales startup MGA Thermal with “gamechanger” funding to accelerate the completion of a commercial-scale pilot plant designed to demonstrate the role the company’s energy storage technology could play in the Australian energy market.

The New South Wales Labor Party plans to tip in $1 billion (USD 690 million) to create a state-owned energy corporation which will partner with the private sector to accelerate investment in pumped hydro, community batteries and renewables to support the state’s energy transition.

Last December, Australia’s first large-scale battery funding round fast-tracked eight new grid-forming projects with a combined capacity of 2.0 GW / 4.2 GWh. That same month, the country’s fresh federal government announced it would enact a major underwriting scheme to incentivise renewable storage across the country. The moves echo those which inaugurated big solar in Australia, but the transformative potential of these storage plays will, it seems, take a different shape.

Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas’ clean energy business Gentari has finalised its acquisition of Wirsol Energy’s Australian renewables assets, including 422 MW of operational capacity across solar and storage facilities, and 765 MW of potential capacity under development.