Utility Scale Storage

After several stalled years, construction of the 300 MW Rodds Bay Solar Farm in Queensland is finally imminent. Developer, Renew Estate, has been issued its Notice to Proceed under its connection agreement with Powerlink Queensland.

The Western Australian State Parliament has passed an electricity reform bill that will see a new regulatory framework for the Pilbara and support stand-alone power and storage systems – already being rolled out by both Western Power and regional utility Horizon Power.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing nearly one million dollars for a study that will analyze the benefits that pumped hydro energy storage would have on the development of the New England Renewable Energy Zone in northern New South Wales.

The developer has secured a $20 million loan from Squadron Energy and Federation Asset Management, as it continues to struggle with connection delays on its Kennedy solar-wind-battery park.

30 experts from the energy, engineering, economic and environmental industries around Australia are calling on the Prime Minister and NSW Premier to withstand an independent inquiry into Snowy 2.0.

Since 2015, Kidston Clean Energy Hub has inspired renewable developers with the potential for hybrid projects. Its envisaged re-use of old gold mining pits for pumped-hydro storage that would concentrate the benefits of colocated solar and wind resources hit a snag in 2019, but today Genex Power executives are celebrating a milestone deal that will enable more than their own ambitions…

Electrolyzer manufacturers are in agreement on the goal of rapidly reducing investment costs, mainly through economies of scale. Some are embracing large units, while others are betting on quantity over size. The first approach is attractive for operators of large PV plants, while the latter is better suited to operators of small systems.

Monash University-led researchers have made a discovery that will dramatically reduce lithium-from-brine extraction times and accelerate our energy future. The breakthrough, innovative and ingenious, is as simple and as complex as a sieve.

A slump in demand would weigh more heavily on the storage industry than a temporary production shutdown and IHS Markit analysts say that is where the risk lies, rather than with a temporary shortage of battery cells. A similar prediction has been made for the PV market.

The Australian Government and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) are set to fund RayGen Resources Pty Ltd (RayGen) to the tune of $3 million toward a feasibility study for a 4 MW “solar hydro” power plant in north-western Victoria.