Energy Storage

In yet another renewable energy related election commitment, South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill has pledged to offer loans to 10,000 households to install rooftop solar and battery storage, which will be made available interest-free for the first seven years.

Australia is on the cusp of a residential battery storage boom. The Climate Council published the forecast last week in its Fully Charged: Renewables and Storage Powering Australia report. BNEF confirms with pv magazine Australia that as a result of the rapid growth, Australia is alongside Germany as the fastest growing market for residential battery storage.

German battery and solar energy company sonnen will move its Australian headquarters from Sydney to Adelaide where it will also establish a manufacturing hub.

Australia’s first large scale solar+storage array has been grid connected, in Northern Queensland. The collocated 10.8 MW solar and 1.4 MW/5.3 MWh battery storage system is set to demonstrate the value of dispatchable PV to networks and asset owners.

Despite hitting a record 1.17 GW of new grid-scale storage capacity in 2017, growth was a mere 4.6% on 2016 having surged 61% the year prior. Industry’s reliance on policy support means foundations for growth remain uneven, report finds. Average costs, however, fell by 24% last year.

Gavin Merchant from SolarEdge Australia and New Zealand speaks to pv magazine Australia about the growing acceptance of module-level power electronics across all solar market segments. The rise of storage is also bringing new opportunities.

Examining the outlook for renewables, grid and infrastructure, and energy storage for the next five years and beyond, the Lloyd’s Register 2018 Technology Radar study asks the question: when will renewables become the dominant source of energy?

Carnegie Clean Energy has received approval to negotiate the lease for a 250ha site in the WA’s Eastern Goldfields, on which it hopes to develop a 100 MW solar and 20 MWh battery storage array. The Mungari Solar Farm would supply power to a region currently suffering from electricity supply constraints.

The Danish wind turbine producer to explore further development of hybrid renewable energy plants that combine wind, solar and battery storage at single location as wind growth rates ease in face of market consolidation.

With all eyes still on the world’s largest lithium-ion battery at the Hornsdale wind farm, South Australia now readies to raise the game with its first big battery built in conjunction with a solar farm.