Energy Storage

Oz Minerals has long said that it was looking at a hybrid fossil fuel-solar-wind solution to power its massive West Musgrave Project. This week the miner has announced that it is now developing a roadmap to power the project with 100% renewables with the addition of a battery in what the company says could be one of the world’s largest fully off-grid renewably powered mines.

Engie and ammonia producer Yara have published findings from their long-awaited feasibility study into the development of renewable hydrogen and ammonia at Yara’s Pilbara Fertilisers plant. The study has led to development plans for large-scale renewable hydrogen and ammonia development with the first phase, a 10 MW solar farm and electrolyser, already instigated.

The Western Australian Government going to provide a temporary royalty rebate scheme for three lithium producers and their employees are who struggling in the face of low prices. Prices have fallen for the first time since 2014 as spodumene concentrate supply is being oversupplied in advance of the electric vehicle and energy storage boom which hasn’t quite hit yet.

The £12.7 million project will explore how to transport pure and blended hydrogen for use in heating and industrial purposes. Construction will start next year.

A collection of mining companies, industry bodies and union groups have been announced as the members of the Future Battery Industry taskforce, the Western Australian McGowan Government’s unit designed to grow the value chain of critical minerals for the energy storage industry for domestic use and export opportunities.

Australia is positioned to become a renewable energy “superpower” with multinational consultancy Ernst & Young (EY) suggesting the nation’s green hydrogen and solar energy export plans have it well placed to take advantage of a growing market.

A new Wood Mackenzie report has forecasted a massive swing in the levelised cost of electricity across the Asia-Pacific over the course o the next decade. Before 2030, renewables will be cheaper than new coal and gas almost everywhere, and significantly cheaper in Australia.

Spanish energy storage company E22 has set to work on its first project in Australia, a 5MW/7.5 MW Li-ion battery in Longwarry, VIC that is set to provide AusNet with much needed network services during the heights of summer congestion.

AGL’s ambitious 850 MW target of new large-scale battery storage in its portfolio by FY 2024 is seeming less like an opportunity and more like an inevitability with each passing week. Following on from last week’s announcement of a 250 MW, four-hour-duration battery at its Torrens Island Power Station in South Australia, AGL has this week announced a 200 MW battery project at Victoria’s Loy Yang A power station.

AGL, one of Australia’s biggest polluters, is working towards net-zero emissions by 2050 and new relevance in a renewable-energy-powered world. Think big batteries to replace the spinning reserve of some coal and gas generators, and digital management of its customers’ distributed rooftop resources.