Advisian Consultant, Vinodini Dissanayake looks at the role batteries will play in Australia’s renewable future.
Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are intermittent power sources and often rely on the electricity grid, which includes coal and gas plants to provide power when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. Batteries provide a solution to integrate renewables to the grid without compromising the quality of supply.
Batteries are also capable of providing ancillary services such as frequency regulation, i.e. they can settle the differences caused by fluctuations in generation and loads and maintain the system frequency at 50Hz. A battery system that is connected to the grid can increase or decrease its output when there is a momentary shortfall of generation or excess generation.
There are several types of battery technologies at different levels of maturity and technical features:
So, which technology is best to use? It depends on the application, location and the size (MW/MWh) of the energy storage device.
In addition to integration of renewables, batteries can provide energy arbitrage – charging the battery when the electricity price is low and discharging when the price is high.
Large scale batteries can also differ transmission upgrades and relieve congestion – for instance, installing a battery downstream of a transmission line, where the loading of the line is reaching its design capacity during peak demand periods.
In households, battery systems are usually installed together with rooftop solar PV. This allows the household to store the excess power during day time and use it during peak demand. This is particularly attractive to households, which are no longer eligible for premium feed in tariffs. A typical house in Victoria earns around 6c/kWh for solar power fed into the grid. But they pay a much higher price to purchase electricity from the grid at around 30c/kWh. A household with battery storage can utilise the stored energy during peak demand periods.
The challenge with both home and large scale battery is capital cost. However, as technology matures the costs of batteries are coming down, making them more attractive. Safety is another area of concern. In households it is important that installations are carried out by an accredited installer.
Early this year Standard Australia released a roadmap for energy storage standards to support standardisation efforts in electrical energy storage. Safety of installation, product standards, grid connection, recycling, handling and transport, training and international participations were identified as priorities.
In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.
-Albert Einstein
Implementing battery storage especially at grid scale is challenging but it is an opportunity that we need to take advantage of and work out the best way of handling our market and system models for future security and operation of our electricity system.
Offshore wind can play a significant role in the clean energy mix, combined with solar and onshore wind, to create a scalable renewable energy supply. Investment in offshore wind can also help accelerate the jobs transition and put Australia in the global race to create and export clean energy fuels and manufactured products, writes Damon Sunderland, Australasia Offshore Wind Leader, Arup.
Read more Opinion article August 22, 2019Chief Scientist of Australia, Dr Alan Finkel AO, discusses the potential of hydrogen as a sustainable fuel source and the role Australia could have in the global hydrogen industry of the future.
Read more Opinion article March 4, 2019Australia’s electricity markets are in transition. What are the trends and implications for new investment types that may be required in the future? Oliver Nunn, Ryan Esplin, Alan Rai and Tim Nelson explore.
Read more