South Australia leads with renewables as saltwater pumped hydro storage takes shape

Renewable energy developments in Spencer Gulf, SA (from RenewEconomy)

The South Australian (SA) state is at the end of the largest electricity network in the world, that of eastern Australia. Its connection to that network has been unreliable plus the SA Government has a more ambitious Renewable Energy Target (RET) than that of the current Federal Government. Therefore the state government has decided to go it alone when increasing renewable electricity generation and reducing carbon emissions overall. The State has a goal to be 50% renewable in electricity production by 2025 and have net zero emissions by 2050.

South Australia already has substantial solar and wind power but, to be independent of the eastern electricity network and have reliable power, the state needs more renewable energy and adequate power storage for peak demand times. The linked article at the bottom outlines: the seawater pumped hydro storage project and mentions the quickly developing 100kWh Tesla megabattery facility; the planned solar thermal storage plant at Aurora; the Sundrop farm powered by solar thermal; and the approved plan to build the Adani Whyalla Solar Farm.

Pumped hydro works by having two nearby reservoirs of water at different elevations such that there is a steep enough decline between them to generate electricity from water falling down pipes to turbines. Water from the lower reservoir, or the sea in this case, is pumped uphill at times of excess supply to the upper reservoir. This upper dam is a potential store of energy that can be released to make hydroelectricity when demand exceeds supply.

For more information see: South Australia leads again as saltwater pumped hydro storage takes shape by Simon Holmes a Court, 29 September, 2017, RenewEconomy.