Energy Storage

The two batteries have a storage capacity of 13 and 19.5 kWh, respectively. Both lithium-ion systems use LiFePO4 as the cathode material and have a round-trip efficiency of over 86%.

Renewable energy investment fund Solar Bay and logistic company Logos have commenced construction of Australia’s largest roof-mounted solar PV system, airlifting in the first of more than 120,000 solar panels that will be installed atop an 800,000sqm industrial warehousing facility in south-western Sydney.

Power utility Alinta Energy expects work on a 45 MW solar farm and 35 MW battery energy storage system planned for Western Australia’s Pilbara region to commence before the end of the year following the signing of a large-scale renewable power purchase agreement with international mining giant BHP.

Australian-based mining giant Fortescue Metals Group has announced it will deploy an additional 2 GW to 3 GW of renewable energy generation and battery storage as part of a more-than $9 billion plan to decarbonise its iron-ore operations by 2030.

United Kingdom-headquartered investment firm Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities has increased its Australian solar PV portfolio, committing $36 million (£21.2 million) to acquire three more solar projects with a combined capacity of 15 MW.

Energy Vault’s EVx storage system is comparable to pumped hydro, using grid-scale renewable energy when supply is abundant to drive motors and raise 30-ton blocks on a six-arm crane tower, rather than water, up to a height. When power needs to be discharged back to the grid, the blocks are lowered, harvesting the kinetic energy.

Electricity supplier AGL Energy will deploy a solar-powered microgrid featuring 5.4 MWh of battery energy storage on a commercial orchard in the New South Wales Riverina region in a bid to reduce the horticultural operation’s reliance on diesel-fuelled generators.

Solar PV technology manufacturer Canadian Solar plans to quadruple its battery manufacturing capacity by the end of 2023. A part of that strategy is a new 2.8 MWh lithium-ferro phosphate battery which will be unveiled at the RE+ conference in California this week.

Prime Infra recently acquired a 500 MW pumped storage hydropower project in Rizal province in the Philippines. The company is also developing a 1.4 GW facility in the country.

United Kingdom-based SolarBotanic Trees will begin offering its solar trees in early 2023. The systems will use monocrystalline cells with an efficiency of up to 24%, encapsulated in a 3D shape.