Victoria

DNV GL, Deakin University, the CSIRO, and the Smart Energy Council have come together to collaborate on a two-year project to develop a new performance standard for distributed energy storage systems. The work behind the proposed Australian Battery Performance Standard is being funded $1.9 million from ARENA and the Victoria state government.

German inverter giant SMA has partnered with Melbourne’s Wilson Transformer Company (WTC) to develop a central inverter solution specifically for Australian utility scale projects. The new Power Skid will be assembled in Australia, with WTC providing the medium and low voltage switchgear – among other componentry.

Octopus, the largest investor in utility scale solar in the UK has established an office in Melbourne, saying the “fundamental shift from fossil fuels to renewables” in the “rapidly evolving [Australian] market is already underway.

The Victorian state government is continuing to advance its solar agenda, with two programs in the Latrobe Valley targeting applications and job creation.

Commercial electricity retailer Flow Power has signed an offtake deal through to 2030 for a quarter of the production from the Kiamal Solar Farm, in Victoria. Total Eren – developer of the $90 million, 200 MW project – has now signed three bilateral PPAs with offtakers – pointing the way for project developers as large-scale solar’s competiveness continues to grow.

Through a study funded by ARENA, the distributed database platform blockchain will be used by Latrobe Valley dairy farmers to buy and sell locally generated renewable energy.

Fluence says that Australian governments, regulators and grid operators are ‘learning-by-doing’ in their application of large-scale battery storage. The technology provider on the new 30 MW/30 MWh utility-scale battery at Ballarat indicates that the approach could deliver significant savings when compared with grid upgrades that could be considered “not optimal” as battery technology rapidly improves.

Major Australian brewer Cartlon United Breweries (CUB) has signed a 12-year PPA with BayWa r.e. to purchase 74,000 MWh a year from the 112 MW Karadoc solar farm in Mildura. The move will cut emissions and reduce power costs for the brewer.

Home builder Mirvac is partnering with the CEFC to provide rooftop PV and battery storage systems for more than 300 new family homes. The renewable energy systems will include 5.1 kW rooftop systems and 10 kWh batteries.

Scientists at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) have demonstrated the first working example of a ‘proton battery’, which utilizes a carbon electrode and reversible hydrogen fuel cell for the storage of energy. The scientists say that their small prototype has already demonstrated similar storage capacities to commercially available lithium-ion batteries, with plenty of potential for further optimization.