The ACT’s first grid-scale battery connected to the National Electricity Market began operation today.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr, Minister for Climate Action, and Shane Rattenbury, ACT Minister for Water, Energy and Emissions Reduction, switched on the 10-megawatt, two-hour (20 megawatt hour) battery, in Beard ACT, near the NSW border with Queanbeyan.
“An all-electric Canberra will require energy storage,” Mr Barr said.
“More reliable energy for Canberrans, cheaper stored renewable electricity – that’s what it’s all about.”
Linked to the Queanbeyan substation, the battery will supply enough energy to power 3,000 homes for an hour, and also stabilise the grid and level out voltage issues.
It is the first of dozens that will be installed in the ACT over the next couple of decades as the ACT – already the first jurisdiction to be powered by 100 per cent renewable electricity – becomes entirely electric by 2045.
“This [battery] … is the start of our pathway over the next few decades to that 2045 target,” Mr Barr said.
- ACT reveals pathway to electrification (4 August 2022)
The battery is developed and owned by Global Power Generation (GPG), a subsidiary of Spanish energy company Naturgy. In 2019, GPG successfully bid in the ACT Government’s Renewables Reverse Auction scheme to provide the Territory with the battery and 100 MW of renewable electricity.
The battery will store surplus renewable electricity at different times of the day – solar power at midday, “when the sun is blazing”, or wind power on windy days, Mr Barr explained. It will then dispatch that energy immediately when the network needs it, so there are fewer blackouts.
GPG chose the Queanbeyan site, Mr Rattenbury said, because it is close to existing electricity infrastructure (such as the distribution grid), and land was available. Queanbeyan will potentially use the extra electricity.
A further 250 MW of grid scale and neighbourhood batteries will be installed in the ACT over the coming years as part of the Big Canberra Battery project, Mr Barr said, generating one-third of the ACT’s energy needs. Tenders are being assessed.
- Building the Big Canberra Battery (25 July 2022)
A network of batteries across the city will provide economic benefits, Mr Rattenbury said.
“We see variations in our electricity usage, particularly at peak times, but we can avoid having to invest in more distribution infrastructure by having batteries that can meet some of those needs,” he said.
“Batteries like this will avoid needing to spend more money on the distribution network. They improve reliability, which is important for businesses and households. They enable us to harvest cheap energy … and store it to be used later on, rather than needing to invest in technologies that will generate overnight or during wind droughts.”
Mr Barr expects even more batteries as the price of storage technology falls, manufacturing increases, and demand for electricity increases.
“This is a rapidly evolving area of new technology, but Canberrans have always been at the forefront of new technology adaptation,” Mr Barr said.
“Canberrans can expect to see many of these battery installations – at [the same scale as the Queanbeyan battery], larger, and smaller, in community batteries. Many households have their own batteries now. Every electric vehicle is a large battery on wheels, as well. All that storage is going to combine over the coming decades to enable us to make the switch to electrifying Canberra.”
A decade ago, Mr Barr said, the ACT was the only jurisdiction in Australia to invest in electric batteries and renewable energy; that foresight is yielding dividends now and for the next decade.
The ACT’s renewable energy and clean tech industries have attracted more than $2 billion of investment in large scale wind and solar renewable infrastructure, Mr Barr said, while across the country, more than $500 million of direct investment in the Canberra region.
For instance, Mr Rattenbury said, groups like GPG and Neoen have their Australian headquarters in Canberra, creating a hub for future development. The Renewable Energy Innovation Fund drives the development of technology, which can then be sold elsewhere. The ACT Government’s investment in the ANU Battery Storage and Grid Integration Program (BSGIP) creates domestic and international opportunities for Canberra, and advances technology.
- Canberra will become the renewables energy capital of Australia (18 December 2021)
Tomorrow, Mr Rattenbury will attend a national cabinet meeting to consider further energy priority projects that energy ministers have identified. As the electricity network transforms, Mr Rattenbury said, Australia needs more energy storage, including batteries and pumped hydro.
“In having intermittent energy supplies like wind and solar, having a joined-up connected grid with storage right across the grid will keep the lights on for everybody, and keep the costs down,” he said.
ANU researcher Louise Bardwell, a member of BSGIP, warned last month that grid-linked batteries could increase greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, if not properly operated. They could, at times, charge off fossil fuels. Due to a historical anti-correlation between marginal emissions and the energy spot price, Ms Bardwell explained, energy storage operated to reduce costs could operate in an opposite pattern to that required to reduce emissions. Her paper recommended that governments provide carbon incentives to battery operators to encourage battery charging and discharge at particular times of day, and ensure that new big battery installations effectively contributed to decarbonisation goals.
“The strength of a battery like this is about levelling out both supply and demand curves,” Mr Rattenbury said. “We do see demand and supply fluctuating at different times of the day. If we can store the power now [at midday] when it’s zero marginal cost, we are generating tons of power across the city. Having that stored, and being able to use it at a later time can then offset the need to draw power from gas back-up stations and the like, which are also part of the national electricity market.”
Another electric battery, Neoen’s 100 MW Capital Battery, due to be operational later this year, will provide up to 200 megawatt hours of energy. BSGIP is working with Neoen to ensure that the battery contributes to a decrease in emissions, Ms Bardwell said. That partnership came out of an ACT Government initiative to foster partnerships between renewable energy companies and ACT research organisations.
“Given that the rollout of these technologies is still in their infancy, the importance of these research partnerships, and support for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of new renewable energy projects, will be pivotal in capturing their potential and accelerating a safe, smooth energy transition,” Ms Bardwell said.
“Our energy grid is in a very dynamic and evolving stage, with the ACT Government putting forward some really exciting new energy storage and generation projects. Given this, I believe that transparency, coupled with ongoing monitoring and evaluation, should be a key priority of the ACT Government and electricity companies. Through this, we can support accountability regarding how energy storage is being operated, and therefore ensuring it is contributing to a reduction in emissions,” she said.
