Battery capacity poised to surge

THE amount of grid-scale battery storage in Australia is expected to quadruple over the next five years.

By 2027, Queensland is expected to overtake Victoria as the state with the most storage capacity at 1.8 gigawatts, according to the Clean Energy Council (CEC), while Edify Energy recently signed off on what it says will now be Australia’s largest grid-forming battery in Riverina in southwest NSW.

The nation’s first grid-scale storage battery came into being after South Australia experienced a statewide blackout in September 2016 during an extreme weather event.

In the wake of that catastrophe, Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-brookes challenged Tesla boss Elon Musk to build what was then the largest grid-scale battery in the world in under 100 days.

Mr Musk vowed it would be built in 100 days or it would be free, with the battery, owned by French company Neoen, switched on in November 2017. Mr Musk won the bet.

Since then, grid-scale batteries have become more common, with the CEC saying 15 projects are now capable of providing 800MW across the nation.

The largest is Neoen’s 300MW battery in Victoria.

“Over the next five years, it is expected an additional 18 projects will be introduced that are currently either under construction, have reached financial close, or have development approval,’’ the CEC said.

According to the Australian Energy Market Operator’s integrated system plan released this week, that figure will grow rapidly, with 47GW of new battery and hydro storage by 2050.

Edify Energy chief executive John Cole said a lack of overarching federal policy in the past had caused a fall in investment, but the change in focus of the new Albanese government, and recent shocks to the power system, meant there was renewed interest in investing.

“We’ve seen conventional plants misfire and be down for maintenance … and a realisation that they may not be as reliable as previously thought,’’ he said.