Energy Storage

Researchers at Edith Cowan University have redesigned zinc-air batteries to an extent where the team’s study found the technology to be preferable to lithium-ion batteries, even for electric vehicles.

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.

Australian manufacturer Incat Tasmania is building the world’s largest all-electric ship at its yards in Hobart with the 130-metre-long vessel to be fitted with a 40 MWh battery energy storage system that will power a series of electric propulsion system and waterjets.

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.

Chinese battery industry heavyweight Contemporary Amperex Technology has unveiled a new electric vehicle battery that reportedly enables long-range driving on a fast, 10-minute charge. It expects mass production to begin by the end of this year, and vehicles equipped with the battery to be available in the first quarter of 2024.

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.

The first pumped hydro energy storage project to be delivered in Australia in 40 years is on track for energisation in 2024 with developer Genex Power announcing that the Kidston pumped hydro project is now more than halfway through construction.

Australian energy storage specialist 1414 Degrees has successfully commissioned a demonstration module featuring its thermal energy storage technology that harnesses the high latent heat properties of silicon to provide a potential zero-carbon solution for use in high-temperature industries.