Utility Scale Storage

Elon Musk’s company is seeing tremendous success with its EVs and global manufacturing, and dramatically scaling its energy storage deployment, but the Solar Roof is still not being widely deployed.

The Robertstown region could host two massive renewable energy projects – a proposed 500 MW solar farm collocated with 250 MW/1000 MWh of battery storage, and a construction-ready 200 MW solar PV farm and 120 MWh energy storage component that form part of the Solar River Project, the size of which could double at a later stage.

A major project featuring 120 MW wind and 50 MW solar PV in Western Australia has secured all state and federal approvals and is scheduled to start construction later this year. An energy storage facility is to be included at a later stage.

Queensland is in line for its first community-scale battery to be installed on Townsville’s outskirts because of the high number of rooftop solar systems and close proximity to electricity infrastructure. The energy storage system should be operating by the end of the year.

Wood Mackenzie’s number-crunchers are the latest analysts queueing up to predict a bumper year ahead for PV, with falling prices, rising efficiency rates and booming markets outside China all on the cards. And it could be a make-or-break year for mega-projects, says Wood Mac.

Another big battery has gone live in South Australia with the goal to contribute to energy security and reliability as a heatwave puts grid under pressure. The $30 million energy storage system is developed and owned by ElectraNet, as the first battery in the NEM to provide regulated network services and competitive market services.

In the UK investor’s first deal since entering the Australian marketplace, Octopus Investments and Australian renewables developer Edify Energy have arranged more than $450 million to finance one of Australia’s major PV projects – a 333MW DC (275MW AC) solar farm, which has an approval to be collocated with a 100 MWh energy storage facility at Darlington Point, NSW.

After releasing the December quarter update for the 50 MW Kidston Solar Project Stage 1, which showed strong revenues and a big boost in generated power, Sydney-based Genex Power has shared a research paper on the term sheet signed with electricity provider EnergyAustralia for the 250 MW Kidston Stage 2 Pumped Hydro Storage development.

In the final days of 2018, the NSW government gave its tick of approval for the construction of the state’s largest solar farm to date. The approval rounded off a year that saw a flurry of utility-scale solar construction activity and an unprecedented number of big solar additions in the state.

NREL has released an report which, for the first time, highlights utility scale energy storage costs with various methods of tying it to solar power: co-located or not, and DC- vs AC-coupled.