13 November 2020
by Andrew Stiel, Energy Markets and Offtake, Edify Energy
Edify Energy, with support from EnergyAustralia, recently published a knowledge sharing report covering the first 12 months of operations for the Gannawarra Energy Storage System –a 25MW/50MWh lithium-ion battery that shares connection infrastructure with the 50MW Gannawarra Solar Farm. Here, we explore some of the learnings from this first operational period and provide insights into how this may drive development decisions for future battery systems seeking to support renewables and advance the transition to a sustainable energy sector.
If investment in the National Electricity Market (NEM) in the last few years has taught us anything, it is that there needs to be a renewed focus on energy projects premised on the potential to both create value and mitigate risk (technical, market and operational), rather than being solely driven toward the lowest levelised cost of energy.
The coordinated investment of batteries and renewables is a potential pathway to realise value creation and risk mitigation, and one that is consistent with the findings of the most recent Integrated System Plan from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).
The inclusion of batteries in the business case for renewable projects has a number of advantages, such as diversification of revenue streams (for example, energy markets and frequency control ancillary services) and mitigating market risks such as increasingly shallow prices during daylight hours for solar.
What is not clear however, is the deployment model to access these advantages. In particular, the question on whether to co-locate the renewable and battery facility behind common network infrastructure or to establish each facility on a stand-alone basis does not always have an obvious answer.
To read the full article in ENERGY Magazine click here
