A good article today, giving an overview of the state of play, with the Eastern States grid.
Rather than reporters giving their opinions, the article seems to be some of the players explaining the balancing act going on, also shows why it all must be technically driven not politically driven.
Well worth a read for those interested in the electrical system.
* I moved the bracketed bold comment, to give readers perspective.
New projects are being announced all the time in the grid-scale battery arms race but concerns are being raised over a patchwork approach which has seen some states go at it alone in their pursuit of more aggressive emissions targets.
From the article:
Grid-scale battery projects from firms like AGL, Origin Energy and Neoen are racing ahead despite the divergent energy and emission goals of governments, which create a "lack of certainty", according to the New South Wales Energy Minister.
"What we've done with our [NSW] energy roadmap is put very clear markers in the ground, so that everyone understands the framework.
"NSW was one of the first states in the country to adopt a net zero emissions target. We also are responding to the challenges that we face in our system.
"NSW, over the next 15 years, will see four of its existing coal-fired power stations come to the end of their technical lives … [we] need to ensure that we don't see price spikes and blackouts as a result of not having a policy in place."
Built by Tesla in response to the nation's first statewide blackout,
the Hornsdale battery in South Australia is the biggest in the country, having recently been upgraded to 150 megawatts.
("
And to put that in perspective, the Hornsdale battery, the biggest battery in Australia, can only keep the Tomago smelter going for less than 15 minutes.")
Now the race is heating up in NSW, with a new 500MW battery project announced by French firm Neoen at Wallerawang near Lithgow.
Origin Energy has ambitious plans for a 700MW battery at Australia's largest coal-fired power station at Eraring, NSW.
AGL is pushing ahead with 1,000MW distributed across several sites, including the coal-fired Liddell power station, due to be shuttered by 2022.
Tony Wood, energy director at the Grattan Institute, says these firms are trying to get "ahead of the game".
"What they're doing is effectively staking out the territory, then announcing these investments. And the good news is these are commercial investments being made by private companies, and they're not being driven by government subsidies," Mr Wood said.
Kerry Schott, the independent chair for the Energy Security Board, recently raised concerns about
grid stability in reference to incoming renewables.
"We're also increasingly seeing the impacts on frequency and system strength. And that's the thing that the market design needs to change," Ms Schott said.
"There is a role for a NEM-wide [National Electricity Market] solution around batteries — you need batteries in particular locations and some locations are definitely more favourable."
The Energy Security Board is expected to make recommendations on a market framework to better accommodate renewables in the coming months.
"Some people want us to go much faster. Some people want us to go much slower, and [are] still in the dinosaur age. We've really got to adapt quickly," Ms Schott said.
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