Energy Storage

Melbourne-based energy tech startup GreenSync has officially launched the Decentralized Energy Exchange (deX), a digital marketplace for grid services provided by rooftop solar arrays, battery storage and EVs owned by Australian homes and businesses.

Tesla energy storage deployments grew 18% and storage deployments grew 11%, as the EV + battery + solar company achieves its a long-awaited quarterly profit on the success of its Model 3.

A super-fast network being rolled out across Australia will allow drivers to charge their electric vehicles in just minutes, 15 times faster than typical domestic charging points which take hours. All the charging stations will be powered through the purchase of renewable energy or on-site solar.

The project will use solar and wind to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, which will be then be stored across the Jemena Gas Network in New South Wales. The $15 million trial will be half-funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

The tipping point, where the world shifts from oil and gas to renewables, will be the year 2035, says Wood Mackenzie. This is when renewables and electric-based technologies converge, with around 20% of global power needs being met by solar or wind, and roughly 20% of miles traveled by cars, trucks, buses and bikes using electricity. Will the transition come soon enough, however?

For renewables to claim a more sizable share of the global energy mix, the adoption of energy storage would need to pick up pace and the rapidly increasing size of the EV fleet will offer a scalable way to ramp up such access, says Fitch Solutions.

The All-Energy Australia 2018 exhibition & conference kicked off in Melbourne today. Safety of products and quality assurance was prominent in discussions at the country’s largest PV conference and trade show in its early hours. Big funding announcements at the opening plenary made headlines.

While much has been made of the ‘trilemma’ facing the Australia electricity network, Ray Wills from Future Smart Strategies argues that rapid change of energy technology, business models and social changes is resulting in rapid and difficult-to-predict changes.

The Dunsborough Community Energy Project is announced as Australia’s first privately funded virtual power plant.

U.S. firm SolarReserve is moving on its massive solar thermal plant project in South Australia having signed a memorandum of understanding with local outfit Heliostat SA.