Battery of the Nation – Future State NEM Analysis Stage 1
- $500k Funded by ARENA
- $1m Total project cost
Summary
The Battery of the Nation initiative is investigating and developing a pathway of future development opportunities for Tasmania to make a greater contribution to the National Energy Market (NEM).
With the support of ARENA funding, the Future State NEM analysis explored how the Tasmanian hydro system can support further on-island renewables development, such as wind, through augmentation of existing hydro-electric power plants, pumped hydro energy storage development and further interconnection with the broader NEM. The analysis concludes Tasmania has potential to expand its role in the NEM and found that Tasmania as the Battery of the Nation is a viable and cost-effective option for supporting Australia’s future energy needs.
How the project works
The Battery of the Nation project by Hydro Tasmania built and tested models of a future Tasmanian energy landscape, including energy storage, generation and transmission opportunities and tested them against plausible wider NEM market constructs and options.
The project also considered the role and impact of further interconnection between Tasmania and the mainland, by building a ‘Tasmanian cost stack’ of new energy and capacity opportunities accounting for all components required to realise a new future capability. The ‘stacks’ were tested against a range of future NEM scenarios over a 10, 15 and 25 year time frame. The scenarios were derived from internal and external short and long term scenarios.
Learn more
Report: Battery of The Nation – Analysis of The Future NEM
Stage 1 analysis of the future energy investment opportunities identified by the Battery of the Nation concept shows Tasmania can make a significant contribution to the transformation of the National Electricity Market over the next two decades.
Related Project: Battery of the Nation Future State NEM Analysis (Stage 2)
Hydro Tasmania’s Stage 2 analysis of the future energy market provides perspective on the technical and economic models and frameworks that underpin the Battery of the Nation opportunity.
Related Project: Battery of the Nation
The Battery of the Nation initiative is investigating and developing a pathway of future development opportunities for Tasmania to make a greater contribution to the National Energy Market.
Benefit
The Future State NEM analysis provides the evidence required to further investigate Tasmania as the Battery of the Nation as a sound investment pathway to further renewables in the NEM. The analysis shows Tasmania can make a significant contribution to the transformation of the NEM over the next two decades through investment in a combination of more interconnection, wind development and new hydropower assets in Tasmania.
The opportunity offers economies of scale, diversity and high quality new renewable energy resources combined with large scale storage that is able to be built with economic and timing optionality.
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