Energy Storage

Renewable energy developer Vast Solar will progress plans to deliver Australia’s first commercial-scale concentrated solar power plant after securing financial backing from the federal government to build a 30 MW/288 MWh facility near Port Augusta in South Australia.

A surge of community battery trials in Australia is seeking to make better use of the country’s vast distributed solar resource. But the results so far have battered expectations. pv magazine Australia’s Natalie Filatoff and Bella Peacock explore the motivations, challenges, and outlook for sharing and monetising solar rooftop riches.

Ionblox says it will use $32 million of series B funding to support the buildout of a novel silicon anode electric vehicle battery.

Rooftop solar stronghold Western Australia has been offered a glimpse of its energy future with the market operator having activated its first virtual power plant to prevent household blackouts after heatwave conditions sparked concern for the state’s main energy grid.

Malaysian researchers have developed a system that can absorb heat from PV modules and transmit it to a nanofluid, in order to transform it into thermal energy and use it for different applications. The panels have an overall efficiency of 89%.

Singapore-based vanadium redox flow battery maker VFlowTech has raised $14.4 million (USD 10 million) as part of a Series A funding round. It will use the capital to set up a 200 MWh vanadium flow battery factory for the production of its 250 kWh product.

Chinese scientists have analysed reports of thermal issues with vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) and existing thermal management methods. They say the operating temperature should be maintained in the range of 10 C to 40 C to ensure VRFBs with high efficiency, weak side reactions, high electrolyte stability, and low crossover.

The federal government has opened industry consultations seeking to inform the country’s first national battery strategy with the goal of developing a globally competitive domestic battery manufacturing ecosystem in Australia.

Storage Hub founder Oliver Schmidt speaks with pv magazine about his outlook for battery energy storage pricing and the cost trajectory of electrolyzers. Schmidt’s new book, “Monetising Energy Storage – A toolkit to assess future cost and value,” will be published by Oxford University Press in June.

The Australian Capital Territory government has officially switched on its first grid-scale battery energy storage system, describing it as a “significant milestone” on Canberra’s pathway to 100% renewable electricity supply.