Utility Scale Storage

Batteries in South Australia have been paid to charge throughout September and October 2021 due to a record number of negative price intervals. Wholesale electricity prices were negative almost 40% of the time.

Malta announced a partnership with Betchel to deploy electro-thermal energy storage systems that are capable of durations of 10-150+ hours.

The transformation of the former Hazelwood coal-fired power station in Victoria has commenced with French renewables giant Engie announcing work has begun on a 150 MW/150 MWh battery energy storage system which is being constructed at the site.

AGL has “broken ground” at Torrens Island power station in preparation for the construction of its 250 MW/250 MWh battery which has drawn interest for being the largest planned grid-forming battery in the world.

Geelong Port, one of Australia’s major ports southwest of Melbourne, today announced it will invest $100 million to establish a hydrogen hub in partnership with biomass gasification outfit CAC-H2.

Scientists in the United States pieced together data from hundreds of different sources, looking to establish the key factors that have led to consistently falling prices for lithium-ion technology since their commercialisation thirty years ago. They find that public-funded research, primarily in chemistry and materials science, has made the largest contribution to cost reduction. And they offer suggestions on policy and investment to ensure that the research can continue to make these important contributions to reduction in battery costs.

Batteries are taking the energy world by storm. From residential home storage systems to large-scale installations, today’s society increasingly relies on powerful batteries. And, as we all know, with great power comes great responsibility. But, how can we ensure that our use of batteries today is responsible, cost-effective, or even safe? Kai-Philipp Kairies, CEO of Accure Battery Intelligence, shares some of his experience gained from monitoring more than 750 MWh of various storage applications.

Australia’s largest energy gen-tailer AGL says it has received approval for a 200 MW/800 MWh grid-scale battery to be developed at the site of its coal-fired Loy Yang power station in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley.

Hydrostor’s plant would be able to deliver 400 MW of electricity for 8 hours, and would be comparable in size to some of California’s largest fossil fuel power plants.

The Queensland government will put “at least” $10 million towards constructing a common-user facility to process vanadium from the state’s vast deposits, allowing multiple small mining operations to access the facility with the ambition of kickstarting downstream battery storage industries in the state.