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Project overview
  • Lead Organisation

    AGL Pty Ltd

    Location

    Adelaide, South Australia

    ARENA Program

    Emerging Renewables Program

  • Start date

    14 August 2014

    End date

    18 December 2015

  • Project Partners
    None
    This battery project was completed on 18 December 2015.

Summary

The Energy Storage for Commercial Renewable Integration (ESCRI) project examined the role of medium to large scale (5-30MW) energy storage in the integration of renewable energy into the South Australian electricity system.

Need

The Energy Storage for Commercial Renewable Integration study acknowledges that South Australia has one of the highest proportions, globally, of renewables in its energy mix. Most of this generation is from wind and solar, which is intermittent.

The impact of this intermittency becomes more pronounced as thermal generation decreases. Careful integration between elements within the network is required to ensure stable and reliable power is delivered to consumers under all conditions.

Batteries, flywheels and even compressed air systems can assist networks overcome issues such as peak demand management and can even potentially offset upgrading network components.

Project innovation

The Energy Storage for Commercial Renewable Integration study examined the potential of energy storage to:

  • Support the National Electricity Market with frequency control services and black-start capability for fossil power stations;
  • Provide value to ElectraNet’s transmission network through peak load management and/or deferral of potential transmission capital upgrades; and
  • Allow increased use of renewable generation within the network.

This project considered, in detail, the potential of an energy storage asset to take advantage of energy from the significant overnight generation at AGL’s South Australian wind farms. The report outlined the technical, commercial and regulatory issues involved with energy storage system deployment.

Electranet addressed how the proposed storage system would interact with the electricity networks rules and regulations. Worley Parsons led technology selection, developing technical specifications, timeline and costs estimates.

Benefit

The ESCRI project was the first Australian study to undertake a detailed assessment of utility scale non-hydro storage. The project provided a business case assessing whether energy storage was a commercial prospect for integrating intermittent renewable energy into the electricity grid.

The project determined that where there is a strong business case, storage could become standard in new renewable energy installations, increasing their competitiveness and potentially leading to more deployment of renewables.

Read more about system security and reliability.

Last updated 22 March 2021

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