Energy Storage

Brisbane-based battery casing company Vaulta has more to celebrate than just Brisbane’s winning 2032 Olympic and Paralympic bid. The company has won a Federal government Accelerating Commercialisation grant that will see its innovative design pushed ahead as the tide of electric vehicles rising globally.

Japanese giant Marubeni Corporation is backing Providence Asset Group’s plan for 30 regional projects which will integrate LAVO’s ‘green hydrogen batteries’, a new technology developed at the University of New South Wales.

Queensland network operator Powerlink has indicated battery storage will be a critical part of a bespoke strategy designed to solve system strength issues that have emerged as a challenge for renewable energy generation in the National Electricity Market.

Australian energy utility AGL Energy is pushing ahead with plans to demerge, confirming its intention to split the company into two businesses as it looks to navigate the continuing transition to renewables.

New reports and modelling has led TasNetworks to further push its largest of four possible Marinus Link versions. The largest, a 1,500 MW interconnector between Tasmania and the Australian mainland, is being shown to provide benefits across the entire NEM through grid stability and downward pressure on wholesale electricity prices. But there is still some discussion about who should pay for it.

Spanish EPC Gransolar Group’s four member companies across the entire value chain are combining on its first hybrid power plant. The 5 MW solar + storage hybrid power plant near Dalby, Queensland, will supply solar energy to grid service provider Ergon while also taking advantage of all the other revenue streams available to energy storage projects.

Australia’s coal-fired power generators are again in the spotlight with the Victorian government declaring a state “energy emergency” as damage caused by recent flooding in the Latrobe Valley threatens the ongoing viability of the 1.48 GW Yallourn power station.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial analysis (IEEFA) has published a report in which it points to seven key lessons energy planners the world over can take from South Australia’s extraordinary renewable energy integration. However, even South Australia, IEEFA’s model, still requires thoughtful planning and policy for the path forward.

Queensland’s worst power outage in decades has triggered calls for the introduction of more utility scale batteries capable of providing security for the state’s electricity network.