New ways to increase the numbers of people that can benefit from battery storage are being tried out in Melbourne, Australia, by one of the city’s electricity distribution network owners, in partnership with an energy non-profit.
The Asia-Pacific region will continue to be the world’s leading centre of lithium-ion cell manufacturing for the next decade, but it won’t just be price reductions in batteries that will drive a 30% drop in front-of-meter battery storage in key markets China, Australia and South Korea.
Renewable energy developer Neoen last month published its plan for a new project in New South Wales, Australia, called the ‘Great Western Battery’ which will be among the country’s largest battery energy storage system facilities to date.
Technology providers Fluence and Wartsila have been chosen through a competitive solicitation process to supply up to 1,000MW of grid-scale battery energy storage to Australian energy generation and retail company AGL.
Australian integrated energy company Origin Energy Limited has issued a call for suitably qualified firms to supply and install a four-hour duration battery energy storage system with up to 700MW rated output, at one of the company’s coal power plants.
A Sydney-headquartered private investment firm and renewable energy and storage developer have lodged a development application to build a large-scale battery energy storage system in Newcastle, in the Hunter region of New South Wales in Australia.
Vena Energy Australia has achieved financial close for its 100MW / 150MWh Wandoan battery energy storage system project in Queensland and named Doosan GridTech as engineering, procurement and construction partner.
A AU$20.3 million (US$15.36 million) project to demonstrate the capabilities of utility-scale vanadium flow battery storage in combination with solar PV has been announced in South Australia, with the Federal government helping to fund the project.
There are 7GW of battery energy storage projects that have either been proposed or are in the planning process in Australia, with the average project in that pipeline sized at around 150MW.
A new three-year project allowing residential solar and batteries to trade electricity and grid services in Victoria, Australia, is aimed at creating a replicable model marketplace that could be widely expanded across the country.
