Energy Storage

On Friday, ReNu Energy signed an agreement for the sale of its solar assets, including Shopping Centres Australasia arrays, to commercial-rooftop-solar startup CleanPeak Energy.

While it has seen growing market acceptance of its zinc-bromine flow battery technology in the past 12 months, Redflow has reported a slowdown in delivery of batteries with cash receipts of only $74,000 received in the FY2019 final quarter.

Simec Zen Energy’s landmark 1 GW dispatchable renewable energy initiative has moved forward with the development approval for the 100MW/100MWh Playford Utility Battery project located near Port Augusta. The facility will provide the necessary frequency control and grid stability requirements for the 280 MW Cultana Solar Farm

Adelaide-based energy storage specialist 1414 Degrees has partnered with technical, agribusiness and finance partners including sustainable horticulture company, Nectar Farms to identify and develop projects using its thermal energy storage solution.

Energy infrastructure company Jemena has confirmed the purchase of New South Wales’ first electrolyser which will utilise renewable energy to produce green gas for cooking, heating and hot water in homes and businesses. 

The program will test the potential of distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar systems, battery storage and controllable load devices, aggregated into virtual power plants (VPPs), to provide scalable energy and network services traditionally performed by large-scale, conventional electricity generators. With registration open, the Australian Energy Market Operator wants VPPs to register to accelerate the shared learning on how to safely and efficiently integrate, operate and regulate these emerging technologies into the National Electricity Market.

After it deployed a record $1.3 billion into the clean energy sector in a 12-month period, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation said it will sharpen its focus on energy storage and other technologies to support the stability of the national grid.

A report released by the Future Fuels CRC (FFCRC) details the work of 19 separate hydrogen roadmaps from around the world, showing the focus and drive towards a hydrogen future. While in sync in terms of forecasts suggesting large scale and rapid deployment of hydrogen technologies is expected from around 2030 onwards, the roadmaps seem to have been developed in isolation from one another, the report finds.

With miners around globe stepping up their production capacities to cater to the demand of the electro-mobility and energy storage sectors, supply has outpaced demand leading to a steep decline in lithium prices. Amid slowing growth in China, a number of Australian lithium miners are hurting.

As it transitions from a wind-dominated renewable energy mix to include a wider range of energy options such as large-scale PV, pumped hydro and battery storage projects, South Australia is considering new planning policies.