Energy Storage

Battery energy storage developers might consider the findings of new research by Cornwall Insight Australia, that batteries located in South Australia last year earned the most from supplying Frequency Control Ancillary Services to the NEM, and that New South Wales also offers fertile ground.

The Queensland Government has opened the registrations of interest period for its three planned and well-funded Renewable Energy Zones. The Sunshine State is calling on the renewables sector to come forward and lead Queensland’s renewable revolution.

The forecast for the ACT is two big batteries and gale-force winds as the territory’s Government awarded two considerable contracts in its latest ‘reverse auction’, including a 14-year contract with Neoen, the first for its massive Goyder Renewables Zone. 

Around 4.2 MWh of energy storage capacity will be connected to a solar and diesel micro-grid on Rarotonga, the largest of the islands in the South Pacific nation. Three 40-foot containers with a total power output of 4.8 MVA will be used as a power reserve and for grid support by utility Te Aponga Uira.

South Australia’s first ten-star home was completed last month, a home that consumes twenty times less energy than the average Australian household, in part thanks to its Fimer React 2 solar hybrid system.

The 50% expansion of Neoen’s Hornsdale Power Reserve, otherwise known as the Tesla Big Battery, has been successfully completed. If testing of the upgraded battery goes well, Hornsdale could begin to function with an expanded remit of synthetic inertia services, a capability which could have significant impact on regulatory changes.

The Western Australian Government has launched its new Distributed Energy Buyback Scheme, a way for homes, schools, and not-for-profits with rooftop solar, energy storage, and even electric vehicles (EVs) to earn some money back from the surplus energy they export to the grid. 

Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor is set to expand the remit of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to allow it to invest in gas generation. The move, which is so counter-productive that it resembles sabotage, has sparked waves of disapproval from around the nation, led by the Clean Energy Council.

The reliability of Australia’s power supply has improved driven by the addition of new solar and wind capacity, making summer blackouts less likely, the Australian Energy Market Operator finds in its latest report. In light of the aging coal fleet and scheduled plant closures, timely commissioning of new generation, storage and transmission investment will be critical.

The South Australian Government has announced a $9 million investment towards the transition of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands from diesel reliance to the self-reliance of solar and energy storage. The contract is good news for one of the most continuously culturally fecund regions in the country.