The first large-scale solar and battery storage project to be connected to the grid in Australia has started providing power to 3,000 homes and businesses in Far North Queensland (FNQ) while forming a test case for deliberate ‘islanding’.

Australia has launched new interactive maps of the electricity grid specifically to support decentralised usage of distributed energy resources (DERs) including battery storage, renewable energy and smart demand management.

While headlines about energy storage in Australia have been dominated by news of batteries in large-scale utility projects and the residential sector, the country’s government and renewable energy agency have identified numerous possibilities for developing pumped hydro storage assets.

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”.

Sydney-based lead-acid energy storage specialist Ecoult has secured AU$4.1 million (US$3.13 million) recoupable funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to develop and commericalise its UltraBattery products.

Australia will launch a new large-scale energy storage funding round, the country’s prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has revealed.

The Australian Renewable Energy Association (ARENA) has partnered with the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) in conducting a trail on more than 150 households in New South Wales and Victoria to test how smart inverters can enhance residential solar-plus-storage systems and improve the stability of electricity on the grid.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has committed up to A$18 million (US$13.7 million) in funding to build the first phase of a A$120 million solar-wind-storage project by Windlab and Eurus that will deliver renewable energy on demand.

Conergy plans to build a 10.8MWac solar PV plant combined with 1.4MW/5.3MWh of lithium-ion battery storage near Lakeland, Australia.

Australian power company AGL is to install the largest ‘virtual power plant’ in the world in Adelaide, South Australia, using batteries from energy storage firm Sunverge Energy.