Utility Scale Storage

Lithium-ion batteries are generally safe and unlikely to fail, but they can catch fire if damaged, stored, or operated incorrectly. With calls mounting for development of engineering good practice, US-based Firetrace International suggests three steps that battery manufacturers, developers and operators should take into account.

The Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has proposed increasing price caps on the country’s main electricity market. This is meant to allow investors to respond to fill gaps created by ageing coal generation.

Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), owned by mining giant Fortescue Metals, has submitted a proposal for a green hydrogen and ammonia production facility project in Canada’s British Columbia. Dubbed ‘Project Coyote’ the facility would be located in the city of Prince George in the centre of the Canadian province.

Japanese company IHI Corporation, which specialises in green ammonia technology to decarbonise industry, has joined the consortium of companies developing the green hydrogen hub HyNQ – North Queensland Clean Energy Project.

Gentari, a subsidiary of Malaysian state-owned oil company Petronas, plans to build between 5 GW to 8 GW of solar, wind and battery projects in Australia by 2030. The ambition follows its acquisition and rebranding of Wirsol Energy, which marked the Malaysian company’s entry into the Australian renewable energy market.

Amp Energy’s 150 MW / 300 MWh battery storage project in Bungama, north of Adelaide, has secured a grid connection agreement with South Australia’s grid operator and owner ElectraNet.

SunCable’s sale to Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures has today been completed, with the company flagging new project elements, including a subsea cable manufacturing and testing facility, as well as reiterating its vision of delivering bulk energy to Singapore via undersea cables.

The global flow battery market will expand from USD 289 million in 2023 to USD 805 million by 2028, driven by increasing investments in renewable energy and flow batteries’ advantages over conventional products. The newly released report also highlighted Australia, noting the nation has numerous flow battery projects for various applications.

American Clean Power has published a guide for first responders on lithium-ion battery energy storage system emergencies, offering insights based on the 2023 NFPA 855 code revision.

With more than 3 GW of large-scale solar, wind and battery storage capacity in operation or under construction, Neoen is already Australia’s biggest clean energy player but now the French developer is planning to triple its renewables capacity by 2030.