Featured in Further upstream – 10-2024

Australia’s big battery bonanza

The volume of large-scale battery energy storage projects under construction in Australia passed that of solar and wind projects combined in 2023 and the trend has intensified this year, with batteries attracting federal support. As coal-fired power plants are shuttered, developers and suppliers are enjoying a battery bonanza.

By

Jonathan Gifford

04 Oct 2024

The Victorian Big Battery provides 450 MWh of storage capacity and can discharge at 300 MW. | Photo: Neoen

The boys at the back of the bus were locked in debate about the prospects for Australian energy storage. In June 2024, on a tour of Shanghai organized by Australia’s Smart Energy Council, Tim Buckley, boss of think tank Climate Energy Finance, and renewables financier Oliver Yates were deep in discussion.Yates was convinced batteries were …

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