Utility Scale Storage

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.

A report by Norwegian energy consultant DNV GL has considered the opportunity for long-term energy storage to play a role in balancing annual supply and demand fluctuations in a renewables-led grid. Using 58 years of Dutch weather and energy consumption data, the study found long-term solutions such as green hydrogen could make a valuable contribution – but perhaps not as much as some analysts believe.

In its world-first application, hydrogen energy storage technology developed at UNSW Sydney will be installed in the regional town Manilla, which is set for one of Australia’s major community-owned solar farms. The storage deployment will be backed by an NSW government grant as part of a funding round that has awarded seven solar and battery community projects across the state.

A massive solar+storage project nearby Uralla in the New England region of New South Wales has been given the tick of approval from the Independent Planning Commission. Project developer UPC/AC Renewables Australia says construction is likely to commence towards the middle of the year.

Despite a sizable pipeline of big PV projects, many EPCs have found it difficult to escape the pitfalls of Australia’s notoriously competitive market. The turmoil in the solar construction sector became evident with the collapse of the nation’s leading contractor RCR Tomlinson. It was further emphasized by Tempo Australia’s problems and last month’s withdrawal of Sydney-based contractor Downer Group. As the survival of the fittest continues, Mumbai-based EPC juggernaut Sterling and Wilson Solar (SWSL) is confident it has found a way to adapt and thrive.

Researchers in China have ranked some of the most commonly used battery chemistries according to parameters deemed important for grid-level storage. The team gave a score in each category and determined a winner – and it wasn’t lithium-ion.