Utility Scale Storage

Australia’s biggest power producer AGL and copper miner Hillgrove Resources have agreed to abandon the ambitious pumped hydro project at an old mine pit in South Australia. No longer bound by the project restriction, the owner intends to step up mining and drilling activities at the site.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has approved the construction of a large-scale solar PV and battery energy storage system for its Koodaideri mine in Western Australia. When completed, the solar plant will be in the running for Australia’s largest PV installation at a mining site.

The Victorian government has decided to break away from national electricity rules and introduce legislation that will fast-track priority projects like grid-scale batteries and transmission upgrades and make room for more large-scale solar and wind on the grid. The announced reforms have prompted a flurry of reactions.

Despite a massive drop in renewable energy investment seen last year, 2020 promises to bring both good and bad news for the Australian solar sector. While network conditions will continue to deteriorate, the low-carbon policy will become more supportive but also more chaotic.

In a bid to seek resolution of all disputed claims, Windlab has reached a standstill agreement with the EPC contractor on the Kennedy Energy Park, Australia’s first project on a major grid to combine wind, solar and battery technologies.

Melbourne startup Relectrify is on the verge of a U.S. breakthrough with its highly efficient and cost-effective battery storage technology.

WoodMac analysts say the amount of new battery manufacturing capacity added in the nation this year could fall by as much as 10% because of the outbreak. With Tesla’s Shanghai gigafactory affected by the extended new-year-holiday shutdown, the analyst warned of potential supply shortages for Australia and the U.S. and U.K.

Against the backdrop of extreme heat, generator, and transmission line outages and intense bushfires, revenues for grid-scale batteries on the National Electricity Market (NEM) have been trending upwards.

Synergy and Western Power’s PowerBank trial has reached another milestone with the integration of a utility-scale community battery into Perth’s major metropolitan network.

The developers of the Kennedy Energy Park will have to pay more than $7.5 million in variation claims and delay costs pursuant to an adjudication decision which is likely to raise concerns in the Australian renewable energy sector.