| Energy
South Australia charged as global
leader in renewable energy
Tesla’s recent South Australian battery announcement has solidified the state
as a world leader in renewable energy.
he California-based company
will be joined by the Lyon
Group in developing some of
the world’s largest lithium ion
battery facilities in the same
Australian state – two different
projects separated by about 135km.
Tesla’s installation will be located at a wind
farm north of South Australia’s capital Adelaide
and Lyon’s solar battery project is being
established in the state’s east.
Both projects are set to be operational by the
end of the year and will provide a combined
200MW of storage to help stabilise South
Australia’s power grid and reduce energy
prices.
South Australia leads the nation in the
uptake of wind energy and rooftop solar with
renewable sources accounting for more than
40 per cent of the electricity generated in the
state.
However, the closure of two coal-fired power
stations in recent years has increased its
reliance on energy supplies from the eastern
Australian states, particularly in times of peak
demand.
Research Principal in the Institute for
Sustainable Futures at University of Technology
Sydney Geoff James said South Australia was
already one of the leading jurisdictions
worldwide in renewable energy but the new
battery opportunities would set an example for
the rest of the world to follow.
“Batteries are pretty much ideal resources to
respond to blackouts and can step in quite
quickly,” he said.
“The proposed battery projects will be an
T
important demonstration of batteries as fast
acting grid support resources.
“The main takeaway, however, is the diversity
of the energy generation – one wind and one
solar – this will show the rest of the world how
diverse projects can work together, become
more dispatchable and present great value.”
Tesla’s 100MW/129MWh battery will operate
at all times providing stability services for
renewable energy and will be available to
provide emergency back-up power if a shortfall
in energy is predicted.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the battery, which
will be installed at the Hornsdale wind farm in
South Australia’s mid-north, would be three
times as powerful as the next largest lithium ion
battery.
Lyon’s parallel storage plan will have a
100MW battery with a 500MWh storage
capacity and while Tesla’s powerpack is
designed for short delivery bursts, Lyon’s
project could provide electricity charges over a
longer period of time.
Lyon Group CEO David Green said the Tesla
deal had highlighted the huge strides that are
being made in renewables and battery storage
and South Australia was an ideal place to
showcase the viability of the technology.
“There is a huge demand within the private
sector and amongst the public to move to
renewable energy technology that is reliably
underpinned by battery storage,” he said.
“The battery systems are required to ensure
the increasing proportion of variable
renewables are available when needed and
provide system security in a new kind of grid.”
Green said he expected increased interest in
battery storage if the South Australian plans
were successful.
Last week former United States Vice
President Al Gore was in Sydney to promote
his new documentary An Inconvenient Sequel:
Truth to Power.
After leaving politics he has been dedicated
to the fight against climate change and global
warming.
In an interview with theFix, Gore said the
transition to renewable electricity would be
much easier because battery prices were
rapidly decreasing.
"I have a lot of admiration for South Australia
because it's now leading the world — the
largest battery ever, and this will be the first of
many," he said.
In 2014, South Australia made global
headlines when it was announced that the state
“with the population of West Virginia” had been
powered by 100 per cent renewable energy for
an entire working day.
It already has one of the highest solar
penetration rates in the world and is home to
innovative companies such as Zen Energy that
connects new housing estates to their own
private electricity grids and 1414 degrees,
which has developed an energy storage
system using silicon instead of lithium.
South Australia is also set for more battery
installations with the Lyon Group working on
another 100MW battery facility at a solar farm
near Olympic Dam for next year and Zen
Energy considering its own project.
UK grown biomass can deliver greenhouse gas savings
UK grown biomass can deliver genuine, system-level, greenhouse gas savings and there is an opportunity to
restructure farming support in a way which encourages the sustainable growth of the UK biomass sector, according to
a new paper published by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI).
ioenergy from biomass and
waste already plays a
significant role in delivering
low-carbon heat, power and
transport fuels in the UK, and
ETI analysis consistently
highlights the continued importance of
developing the bioenergy sector to deliver cost-
effective emissions reductions across the
energy system.
Until recently bioenergy production has been
d