Energy Storage

New analysis from recruitment firm Robert Walters shows continued growth in the renewables sector is bringing continued growth in wages along with it.

The California-based energy technology company has integrated with GreenSync’s Decentralized Energy Exchange (deX), making it possible for its customers to get more value out of their distributed energy assets and help the grid manage the challenges associated with the rapid penetration of intermittent renewables.

Distributed energy producer EDL has officially opened a 23 MW power station that integrates solar with gas and diesel generation to power Gold Fields’ Agnew Gold Mine in Western Australia. The project is part of an innovative hybrid microgrid, which will later add a wind array and battery storage.

Two of Australia’s richest people, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, have jointly invested “tens of millions of dollars” in the ambitious Sun Cable projects, which would export solar energy from the Outback to power Singapore. The capital raising will enable developers Sun Cable to pay for development work for the undersea power link.

Over the last two years, corporate renewable power purchase agreements have become a major force in Australia’s large-scale renewable energy market. In hard figures, 70 leading Australian organizations have made the switch to renewable energy and procured nearly 2.3 GW of mostly solar and wind electricity and supported 5.2 GW of projects, finds the Business Renewables Centre of Australia.

Photon Energy Australia has won the developers race to the long-awaited Lord Howe Island integrated solar and storage project. The Netherlands-based company’s microgrid solution is perfectly suited to remote islands looking to relieve themselves of diesel dependency.

Researchers from the University of Wollongong have manufactured a nanomaterial that acts as a superior cathode for room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries, making them a more attractive proposition for large-scale energy storage.

The capacity of Neoen’s Hornsdale Power Reserve is being expanded by 50%, through the addition of 50MW/64.5 MWh of Tesla batteries. Having attracted an $8 million ARENA grant, $15 million in state funding, and $50 million in project financing from the CEFC, owner Neoen expects the $71 million battery expansion and upgrade project to be completed by mid 2020.

From an energy-hungry importer to a frontrunner in the decarbonization race, South Australia has set the bar high for how to efficiently transition to a low-emissions grid dominated by renewables. With wind and solar already supplying more than a half of its electricity, the state’s energy transition shows no sign of letting up. In fact, South Australia is gearing up to accelerate the pace of its clean energy transition and expand its big PV fleet as it moves toward its 2030 target of “net” 100% renewables.

No man is an island, but solar PV can at least allow us to live on one without having to rely on the expensive logistical nightmare of diesel fuel supply. More islands around the Asia Pacific are turning to solar PV systems combined with storage to meet their needs.