Five questions for SA’s virtual power plant
The proposed 50,000 home virtual power plant launched by the South Australian state government, in partnership with Tesla, is a big deal. But it does beg a number of questions as to how it will be realized and what the implications of the project could be.
South Australia, Tesla partner for $800 million virtual power plant
South Australia could play host to the world’s largest deployment of residential solar+storage in the form of a virtual power plant. The scheme, announced by SA Premier Jay Weatherill on the election campaign trail, could see 250 MW of rooftop PV and 650 MWh of battery storage added to 50,000 homes over 4.5 years.
Coal smoke stacks fall as solar blooms in SA
Last week, the chimney from one of the last coal fired power plants in South Australia was felled. The demolition, captured in the footage below, came only days after Jay Weatherill attended the opening of the state’s first utility scale solar array in the region.
A month in, Tesla’s SA battery is surpassing expectations
It’s just over one month since the Hornsdale power reserve was officially opened in South Australia. The excitement surrounding the project has generated acres of media interest, both locally and abroad.
More big batteries on the way in 2018
Large-scale storage began to gain a lot of attention in 2017, particularly after Elon Musk’s famed ‘100 days’ tweet back in March. Now that this project has proved an initial success, it looks like more big batteries are on the way for the National Electricity Market (NEM).
SA Water to install 100 kW floating array, announces $10 million solar, storage tender
South Australia’s water utility will install a trial floating PV array on its Happy Valley Reservoir. The 100 kW system will be installed in 2018 and is a part of the utility’s plans, announced today, to reduce its net electricity costs to zero by 2020.
Yes, South Australia’s battery is massive, but it can do much more besides
Last Friday, the “world’s largest” lithium-ion battery was officially opened in South Australia. Tesla’s much anticipated “mega-battery” made the 100 days or it’s free deadline, after a week of testing and commissioning.
Elon Musk comes good on 100-day, 100 MW South Australia battery promise
The Tesla chief laid down the gauntlet earlier this year, confidently tweeting that his team could have the world’s largest battery online within 100 days of signing the contract. The lithium-ion South Australia project was actually completed in 60 days.
South Australia backs next wave of energy storage projects
The South Australian government has announced four energy storage projects, which will receive a financial backing of a total of AU$ 8 million.
AGL to expand peer-to-peer solar trial
AGL is set to expand its blockchain-enabled peer-to-peer solar trading program. Initially launched as a trial in May, the scheme will be expanded first in Adelaide, although the number of households to which it will be made available in this second stage is yet to be determined.
