Utility Scale Storage

A tender for 600 MW / 2.4 GWh of energy storage in Victoria and South Australia has been announced as part of the new national Capacity Investment Scheme – essentially a project underwriting program coordinated by the federal government.

Desert Springs Octopus has announced three solar and storage projects between 150 MW and 10 MW for the Northern Territory which it will pursue in partnership with First Nations groups, the Larrakia Nation and Jawoyn Association.

Jaguar Land Rover and Wykes Engineering are building a 2.5 MWh storage system with electric-vehicle batteries taken from Jaguar I-PACE cars. The large-scale system will store wind and solar at an undisclosed location in the United Kingdom.

Queensland iron flow battery company Energy Storage Industries is delivering 1 MW/10 MWh of flow battery energy storage to Queensland’s Stanwell Power Station just outside of Rockhampton. The flow batteries are part of a new government-run clean energy testing ‘hub’ at Rockhampton, which will also include hydrogen and workforce training programs.

Energy market analyst Cornwall Insight Australia has flagged that proposed new rules for the operation of big batteries could have negative effects on the energy storage market, suggesting the changes could reduce the revenue streams available to batteries and cut their lifespan.

Northern Territory government-owned Jacana Energy has opened a tender calling for the private sector to submit proposals to build up to 100 MW of utility scale PV and 30 MW/30 MWh of grid-forming battery energy storage in the Darwin-Katherine region.

Australian gas infrastructure major APA Group has announced it will purchase Chinese-owned utility Alinta Energy’s remote power assets in Western Australia’s Pilbara region in a deal worth more than $1.7 billion (USD 1.1 billion) as it seeks to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels.

Quarterly investment in large-scale energy storage projects has broken through the billion-dollar barrier for the first time but the Clean Energy Council has cautioned that a slowdown in generation projects means Australia is a long way off the pace necessary to achieve the 82% national renewable energy target by 2030.

Australian energy giant AGL has officially opened its first operational grid-scale battery with the 250 MW/250 MWh facility at its Torrens Island power station site in South Australia now live.

Power utility Alinta Energy is progressing the development of a 100 MW/200 MWh big battery at Wagerup in southwest Western Australia that it says will provide support for the state’s main grid and facilitate the increased penetration of renewable energy.