Energy Storage

The head of the Chilean Economic Development Agency (Corfo), Eduardo Bitran says that Tesla may partner with local lithium producer SQM in the construction of a factory. The Chilean government and SQM have recently settled a dispute that began in 2014.

The number of battery storage systems being installed alongside PV doubled in 2017. The latest data from the Clean Energy Regulator shows that 3,763 battery storage systems were installed alongside a small-scale PV array, up from 1,566 in 2016.

An academic event held last week in the U.K. presenting the results of two major research projects on energy storage provided an update on the current and future directions of battery storage technology and development.

Victorian homebuilder Porter Davis has announced its plans to equip 50 new knockdown rebuild homes in Victoria with the Bradford Solar ChargePack, which comes with free solar panels and a Tesla Powerwall 2 battery, offering a chance to new home owners to insulate their households against rising power prices.

The territory government announced on Friday that it has paid more than $3 million in grants to six companies. The money will support the roll out of storage installations in homes and businesses across the capital territory, in the form of rebates for customers buying energy storage systems.

Motufoua Secondary School from the tiny Polynesian island nation of Tubalu was awarded the Oceania Zayed Future Energy Global High School prize. After accepting the award, one of the school’s students sent a clear message about the need to address climate change.

As part of an ambitious plan to replace its gas power fleet with large-scale battery storage, the Northern Territory government has invited expressions of interest for a 25 to 45 MW energy storage system intended to support the grid in Darwin and Katherine.

It’s just over one month since the Hornsdale power reserve was officially opened in South Australia. The excitement surrounding the project has generated acres of media interest, both locally and abroad.

The latest in a series of international players in the residential storage space, French hybrid inverter supplier Imeon Energy has announced plans to open a new service center in Melbourne, providing further evidence of Australia’s attractiveness in this market.

Large-scale storage began to gain a lot of attention in 2017, particularly after Elon Musk’s famed ‘100 days’ tweet back in March. Now that this project has proved an initial success, it looks like more big batteries are on the way for the National Electricity Market (NEM).