Utility Scale Storage

Victoria’s Labor government this morning announced it will target 2.6 GW of renewable energy storage capacity by 2030, and 6.3 GW by 2035.

A new $8 million large-scale, network-connected battery at Tanby on Queensland’s Capricorn Coast is expected to help facilitate the continued integration of renewables, including rooftop solar PV, into the state’s energy system.

United Renewable Energy has energised a 15 MW/15 MWh battery energy storage system connected to a 150 MW solar park located near the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan.

ACEN Australia declared the first stage of the 720 MW New England Solar Farm is on track to commence commercial operations in 2023 while announcing it has secured a $140 million loan agreement that will help grow its renewables capacity in the Asia-Pacific region to 20 GW by 2030.

A Tesla Megapack battery caught fire at PG&E’s Elkhorn large-scale battery storage facility in Monterey County, California, in the early hours of Sept. 21. The fire was brought fully under control by the late afternoon, and its cause is under investigation.

Renewable energy investment fund Solar Bay and logistic company Logos have commenced construction of Australia’s largest roof-mounted solar PV system, airlifting in the first of more than 120,000 solar panels that will be installed atop an 800,000sqm industrial warehousing facility in south-western Sydney.

Power utility Alinta Energy expects work on a 45 MW solar farm and 35 MW battery energy storage system planned for Western Australia’s Pilbara region to commence before the end of the year following the signing of a large-scale renewable power purchase agreement with international mining giant BHP.

Australian-based mining giant Fortescue Metals Group has announced it will deploy an additional 2 GW to 3 GW of renewable energy generation and battery storage as part of a more-than $9 billion plan to decarbonise its iron-ore operations by 2030.

United Kingdom-headquartered investment firm Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities has increased its Australian solar PV portfolio, committing $36 million (£21.2 million) to acquire three more solar projects with a combined capacity of 15 MW.

Energy Vault’s EVx storage system is comparable to pumped hydro, using grid-scale renewable energy when supply is abundant to drive motors and raise 30-ton blocks on a six-arm crane tower, rather than water, up to a height. When power needs to be discharged back to the grid, the blocks are lowered, harvesting the kinetic energy.