Energy Storage

AGL has committed to another big battery project as it seeks to add at least 850MW of new large-scale energy storage to its portfolio by 2024, confirming it will begin construction of a 50MW/50MWh battery at Broken Hill which will improve energy security in regional New South Wales.

Developed by researchers in Spain, the battery uses renewable electricity to melt low-cost metals such as silicon or ferrosilicon alloys to produce and store latent heat, which is in turn used by a thermophovoltaic generator to produce power. According to its creators, the device may store electricity at a cost of €10 per kilowatt-hour (AU$14.6/kWh) for a 10MWh system.

The New South Wales Government is advancing its plan to build the “biggest network battery in the southern hemisphere” by 2025 as it looks to shore up a reliable energy supply ahead of the impending closure of the coal-fired Eraring Power Station.

Pumped hydro energy storage is ideally positioned to support reliability and reduce volatility in the energy market as Australia shifts from fossil fuels towards renewable power with former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull labelling the technology the “ultimate long-duration storage” solution.

Analyst Wood Mackenzie has predicted soaring demand for electric vehicle devices will ensure supply will not keep pace with demand until some point in 2023.

Following the early success of its solar integrated Gannawarra Energy Storage System, Edify Energy has again opted for Tesla Megapack as its preferred battery energy storage system for its combination of storage projects totalling 150MW/300MWh in the Riverina region of New South Wales.

Vattenfall, SSAB and LKAB have reached the halfway point in the construction of a rock cavern storage facility in a coastal city in northern Sweden. The 100-cubic-metre facility is being constructed 30 metre below ground and will begin storing green hydrogen next year.

Construction of the Kogan Renewable Hydrogen Demonstration Plant in Queensland’s Western Downs region is expected to start by September, with government-owned CS Energy, the plant’s operator, having finalised the EPC contract with IHI Engineering Australia to construct the project.

New Zealand’s federal government has opened the final funding round in its NZ$14 million (AU$13 million) Māori Housing Renewable Energy Fund, open to small and larger-scale projects.

The rollout of rooftop solar in the remote coastal town of Broome in northern Western Australia is set to get a boost with state-owned regional energy provider Horizon Power installing two centralised community batteries that are expected to unlock more than 1,400kW of solar PV hosting capacity.