Storage Down Under

Energy giant AGL and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency are launching a 5 MW battery storage “virtual power plant” in South Australia with the aim of boosting grid stability, reducing power price volatility and supporting renewable energy.

Industry analysts IHS Markit expect the grid-tied energy storage market to double in 2016, from 1.4 GWh to 2.9 GWh. IHS expects on-grid storage capacity to reach 21 GWh by 2025.

275,902 Australian solar households could be in for a shock in 2017, as scheduled feed in tariffs (FIT) reductions in three states come into effect. Research published this month has revealed the extent of the impact on households under these PV tariff schemes and has recommended affected households undertake a number of measures to minimize the FIT-drop impact, however, interestingly it notes deploying residential battery storage would not be an economically feasible measure.

Chinese inverter supplier Sungrow reports that it has grown to become the leading Chinese inverter supplier to the Australian residential market, recording 50 MW of shipments to the small scale segment in 2015. The Australian residential rooftop market registered a robust uptick in May, according to data compiled by Green Energy Markets, with over 62 MW of small-scale solar systems installed.

Canadian SkyPower and Chinese BYD will submit a joined bid in the upcoming 750 MW solar+storage tender in India.

The Australian Green party has released a policy that would see distributed battery storage incentivized. The proposed scheme would provide a refundable tax credit of up to AU$5,000 (US$3,690) for households installing a battery system, and allow businesses to accelerate the depreciation of a storage system.

A new study by eStorage identifies 2,291 GWh of development-ready sites for new pumped hydro energy storage plants in Europe.

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has launched two innovative solar+storage projects, aimed at the residential sector, in Western Australia today. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the Alkimos Beach suburban central battery system, and a truly groundbreaking solar+storage project for an apartment development was launched.

German solar inverter giant SMA has unveiled its new Sunny Boy Storage 2.5 inverter, which can be coupled with Tesla’s PowerWall. SMA says that its AC coupled unit cuts Sunny Boy storage power electronic costs by half.

The California company’s Customer Self Supply program offers a customized combination of solar, battery storage, smart electric water heater and Nest Learning Thermostat.