Utility Scale Storage

British developer Lightsource bp’s plans to build the biggest solar farm and battery energy storage system on any of Australia’s main electricity grids has a green light to proceed after securing environmental approval from the Australian government.

Adelaide-headquartered renewable energy gen-tailer Zen Energy will build South Australia’s second-largest battery energy storage system in a move expected to boost the reliability of electricity supply as the state gallops towards its 100% renewable energy target.

Perth-based resources company Australian Vanadium Limited has executed another element of its planned ‘pit to battery’ strategy, producing the first battery-ready vanadium electrolyte at its new manufacturing facility in Western Australia.

Western Australian government-owned utility Synergy has commenced construction of its third grid-scale battery as the state government looks to ramp up energy storage capacity to support its planned transition from coal-fired power generation to renewables.

Researchers in Italy have estimated the profitability of future vanadium redox flow batteries based on real device and market parameters and found that market evolutions are heading to much more competitive systems, with capital costs down to $430/kWh at a storage duration of 10 hours.

Big batteries are blooming in the Australian sun and they will play an increasingly important role as coal plants are switched off and the share of renewables rises in the energy mix.

Genex’s first utility-scale battery energy storage system (BESS), the Bouldercombe Battery Project (BBP) in Rockhampton, Queensland is fully operational, following 2023 fire incident.

New Zealand’s transition to a renewable energy future has taken a significant step forward with the nation’s first grid-scale battery energy storage project now offering injectable reserves to the electricity market for the first time.

A new report published by the Clean Energy Investor Group calls for federal and state governments to financially back long-duration energy storage assets to ensure Australia’s clean energy transition 2030 targets are met.

Energy Vault has connected its 25 MW/100 MWh EVx gravity-energy storage system (GESS) in China. Once provincial and state approvals are obtained to start operating, it will become the world’s first commercial, utility-scale, non-pumped hydro GESS. Meanwhile, its partners China Tianying (CNTY) and Atlas Renewable Energy have begun construction on three grid-scale GESS in China.