Antinuclear

Report on renewable energy storage in Australia

this could lead to profound changes in the
structure of Australia’s electricity market,stating,

“If this happens on a large scale it will force a change in the
business model of how we fund the poles and wires network, unlock the
full potential of Australia’s enormous renewable energy resources and
accelerate the shift to a clean energy economy.

Energy storage to grow to 3000MW in Australia by 2030
http://www.climatespectator.com.au/news/energy-storage-grow-3000mw-australia-2030,
31 Jan 2013
By a staff reporter The Clean Energy Council has released a report
that suggests the market for energy storage technology in Australia
will be approximately 3000MW by 2030. The authors of the report,
Marchment Hill Consulting, have estimating this growth based on
current trends and projected costs.

According to Clean Energy Council Policy Manager Tim Sonnreich,

“As the price of storage falls, it will allow us to smooth out the
supply of electricity and help us deal better with issues such as peak
demand. Household energy storage systems will also be much more common
in the coming years as well, meaning families might say goodbye to
electricity bills altogether by relying on their solar panels and
batteries to power their homes day and night.”

Sonnreich’s view is that this could lead to profound changes in the
structure of Australia’s electricity market,stating,

“If this happens on a large scale it will force a change in the
business model of how we fund the poles and wires network, unlock the
full potential of Australia’s enormous renewable energy resources and
accelerate the shift to a clean energy economy. So while there are
obvious benefits to electricity storage, there will also be major
challenges to integrate storage into our electricity supply”.

Key findings from the report include:

–The cost of storage could drop by more than half by the end of the
decade under the most optimistic scenario used in this report. Under
the baseline scenario it is expected to fall from approximately $800
to $550 per kilowatt during this period.

–The most economic markets for storage in the short term will be
remote areas and the fringes of the electricity grid, where power is
often expensive and unreliable. Storage is already used by many cattle
stations and remote communities in tandem with solar power
systems.–Storage will play an important role to smooth out the supply
of renewable energy as it reaches higher penetration levels in the
electricity market.

–Australia needs to start planning in earnest now for the integration
of large quantities of storage into the electricity market. While the
use of storage may not become widespread until towards the end of the
decade, the speed of change and reform in the energy system is
typically very slow.

February 1, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, energy