Energy Storage

Energy giant AGL has disclosed it will shutter its gas-fired Torrens Island B power station in South Australia within four years, citing the impending completion of a new electricity interconnector that will link power grids across three Australian states, unlocking gigawatts of new wind, solar PV and storage projects.

Australian renewables developer North Harbour Clean Energy will team with European battery energy storage systems supplier CellCube to establish a vanadium redox flow battery manufacturing and assembly facility in Australia with a projected capacity of up to 1 GW/8 GWh per annum.

The developers behind a proposed $5.5 billion (USD 3.7 billion) pumped hydro renewable energy project in central Queensland have announced a new partnership to develop up to 4.5 GW of long-duration energy storage in Victoria that is to be integrated with new renewable generation and green hydrogen production.

Calls for the Albanese government to adopt a Renewable Energy Storage Target are growing, with an alliance of organisations visiting Australia’s Parliament to lobby for the move.

The New South Wales government has received bids for more than 5.5 GW of wind and solar projects, along with more than 2.5 GW of long-duration storage projects, in response to its first tender to secure renewable projects to transform its coal-reliant energy system.

New Zealand’s solarZero says it aims to provide fast, sustained reserves with its virtual power plant of 10,000 household battery systems. Meridian Energy, meanwhile, has secured approval for a 100 MW battery energy storage system – the country’s largest such system to date.

Construction has begun on a 50 MW/50 MWh battery near the outback city of Broken Hill which will be equipped with advanced inverter technology designed to improve system strength in regional New South Wales and support increased levels of renewable energy generation in the area.

The Victorian government has unveiled an ambitious plan to install 100 battery energy storage systems in neighbourhoods across the state by the end of 2026 as part of a broader strategy to support the rollout of more rooftop solar PV as it targets 95% renewables by 2035.

Developer Energy Estate has signed a deal with Abergeldie Complex Infrastructure, which has designed vertical manmade caverns for hydrogen storage. Energy Estate co-founder Simon Currie says the partnership is about shoring up projects like its proposed 1.6 GW Hunter Hydrogen Network.

A 10 MW/20 MWh battery energy storage system associated with a Victorian wind farm has be commissioned by Ingeteam at the Queanbeyan substation in the Australian Capital Territory.