The government of Jay Weatherill, premier of South Australia, has just formally launched three Calls for Proposals under the Renewable Technology Fund, a programme to foster private investment and accelerate project development in clean energy technologies.
Distribution network operators in parts of Australia could be restricted from owning or operating energy storage assets, in a measure proposed by the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) to stimulate the market for behind-the-meter batteries.
Ahead of Thursday, when Expressions of Interest will start being received, a tender for 400MW of renewables and 100MW of energy storage has already attracted ‘huge interest’ in Queensland, Australia.
The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) assessment of reliability and security of the country’s electrical grid network is “encouraging”, the Energy Storage Association’s head has said in her initial reaction to the report’s publication.
The requirement of nine hours of energy storage duration at a project touted as a possible replacement for a new natural gas plant in California makes it tough for the newer technology to compete on cost, an analyst has said.
Another utility-scale energy storage facility has got the green light for construction in South Australia, claimed to be the first in the country to be “backed by mostly private investment from the energy industry”.
Filipino renewable energy firm Solar Philippines is developing an off-grid solar, battery and diesel micro-grid in the Philippines that could be the largest of its kind in Asia, according to the company head.
The growing commercial viability of energy storage has led regulators in the US state of New Mexico to add the technology to the suite of resources available to utilities in their forward-planning.
A set of guidelines for safely installing energy storage at customers’ houses will probably undergo significant revision from its current draft, which has been slammed as “not fit for purpose” by the head of the Australian Energy Storage Council.
