Energy Storage

Australia’s energy ministers have unanimously agreed to establish a capacity investment mechanism that they anticipate will unleash at least $10 billion (USD 6.7 billion) worth of investment and at least 6 GW of renewable energy generation and storage to stabilise the grid as the nation’s ageing coal-fired power plants exit the energy market.

A poll of more than 2,000 Australians has found 78% agree the federal government should expand the national rooftop solar subsidy to include household battery storage. The concept has floated around for the last years, most notably in the form of a federal bill tabled by independent MP Helen Haines, but may have an uptick of support amid spiralling energy prices.


Pacific Northwest National Lab (PNNL) researchers in the US have developed a new framework to compensate energy storage as a dual-use asset.

Panasonic claims that its new vehicle-to-home system can increase the self-consumption rate of residential solar and storage capacity to 90%.

A holiday house in New South Wales is thought to be the first residential property in Australia to make the switch to a hybrid solar and green hydrogen standalone power system with network service provider Essential Energy trialling the off-grid technology.

Australian renewables developer Energy Estate has signed a consortium of “globally recognised partners” to accelerate the development of a large-scale green hydrogen and ammonia production and export facility in north Queensland.

In a decidedly confusing announcement, Swedish molten aluminium storage startup Azelio says it has secured a conditional order from relatively unknown Australian company MPG Built. Azelio says the order will see it provide “energy-as-a-service” using five of its TES.POD storage units combined with solar power.

Environmental approval from the government of South Australia means Renascor Resources is now a step closer to realising its integrated graphite supply chain. Graphite is a key component in lithium-ion battery production and Renascor’s South Australian deposit is considered the largest outside of Africa.

Civil and building works have now been completed on the site of the Northern Territory’s $45 million (USD 30.2 million) big battery, known as the Darwin-Katherine Battery Energy Storage System. The 35 MVA battery is being delivered by Hitachi Energy and will deploy Virtual Synchronous Machine technology, allowing it to provide virtual inertia and system strength services to the grid.

With construction underway on a $295 million (USD 197 million) transmission project to connect the landmark Kidston Clean Energy Hub to the grid in far north Queensland, developer Genex Power has announced plans to boost the generation capacity of what is already Australia’s largest hybrid energy project combining wind, solar and pumped hydro.