Technology

Phillip Island off Victoria’s southern coast has switched on a 5 MW/10 MWh lithium-ion phosphate battery to support the island’s grid during peak tourism periods.

Queensland hydrogen battery startup Endua has installed its first 100kW standalone hydrogen power bank in south Brisbane. The news come weeks after the company raised $11.8 million (USD 7.81 million) to scale the technology.

Developed by Chinese researchers, the novel hybrid storage technology may achieve an efficiency of over 80% and be applied in distribution and transmission grids. The proposed combination is reportedly able to offer the advantages of gravity energy storage and power-based storage systems in a single solution.

Construction of Australia’s first commercial-scale concentrated solar power plant is on track to begin next year with developer Vast appointing American Australian engineering company Worley to help deliver a 30 MW/288 MWh facility planned for South Australia.

Australia’s energy transition is well under way. Some 3 million households have rooftop solar and sales of medium-sized electric cars are surging. But as we work towards fully electric households powered by renewable energy, have we overlooked a key enabling technology, the humble electric water heater?

Brisbane-based Li-S Energy has developed a 20-layer battery cell utilising semi-solid state lithium sulfur battery technology. The company claims the new cell displays nearly double the gravimetric energy density and a comparable volumetric energy density to lithium-ion cells.

A Dutch research group has used a series of techniques from the automotive industry to develop a novel methodology to repair glass in double-glass solar panels. Their experimental work represents the step towards transforming glass-damaged solar panels from waste into valuable products.

South Australia’s electricity transmission network operator ElectraNet has outlined a $2 billion-plus (USD 1.3 billion) pipeline of transmission projects as it seeks to keep pace with a “rapid” energy transformation that could lead to a doubling of the state’s electricity usage by the end of the decade.

Australia’s largest rail freight operator Aurizon has contracted Progress Rail to convert one of its diesel locomotives to full battery electric operation, paving the way for the greening of its freight-haul rail fleet.

For every dollar invested in fossil fuels, 1.7 dollars are invested in clean technologies. Five years ago, it was a one-to-one ratio, said the International Energy Agency.