Energy Storage

The commissioning of stage two of Vena Energy’s 180 MW Tailem Bend solar farm in South Australia is now complete, with a 41.5 MWh battery to be coupled shortly. Tailem Bend 2 was first energised in February, but took until now to be fully commissioned.

CS Energy has signed an agreement with United States-headquartered GE Vernova for the supply of key equipment for Queensland’s first “hydrogen-ready” gas peaking power plant which will initially be capable of operating on 35% renewable hydrogen.

Australian lithium explorer St George Mining’s critical minerals strategy has received a significant boost with global battery industry giant Shanghai Jayson New Energy Materials tipping a further $3 million into the Perth-based company.

Taking a rigorous approach to inspection is crucial across the energy storage supply chain. Chi Zhang and George Touloupas, of Clean Energy Associates, explore common manufacturing defects in battery energy storage systems (BESS) and how quality-assurance regimes can detect them.

Queensland’s second large-scale battery energy storage system has received approval to immediately commence full commercial operations after Genex Power successfully completed the commissioning of its 50 MW/100 MWh Bouldercombe Battery Project.

Australian energy storage startup Green Gravity will explore opportunities to deploy its gravitational energy storage technology in Europe after inking an agreement with the Romanian state-owned energy company Complexul Energetic Valea Jiului SA.

Australian commercial solar outfit CleanPeak Energy has expanded its utility-scale PV portfolio with the acquisition of three operating solar farms with a combined capacity of 14.3 MW in Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory.

The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has determined that Antora Energy’s solar-plus-storage system meets the US military’s stringent standards, as it significantly outperforms emergency diesel generators in survivability probabilities.

With the clean energy transition driving a global increase in demand for critical minerals, the Queensland government has declared Townsville will be home to Australia’s first state-owned processing facility for critical minerals like vanadium.

Western Australian battery technology company Altech Batteries has updated the design of its 1 MWh sodium chloride battery energy storage system, paving the way for the modular units to be stacked three high, allowing for smaller project footprints that conserves valuable land area.