South Australia aims to have 100% ‘net’ renewable electricty by 2030

SA's Tesla big battery and wind farm (source RenewEconomy)

The South Australian (SA) Liberal government says it expects the state to reach ‘net’ 100 percent renewable electricity by 2030. Its grid will have interconnectors to other Australian grids which will allow energy to be imported but mostly exported.

SA’s grid will be supported by solar, wind, pumped hydro, big batteries, other storage, and gas and diesel fast start capacity to ensure reliability. Much of the time the wind, solar and storage energy will be in excess, so SA will be a renewable energy exporter interstate and maybe overseas. It is expected that the amount of fossil fuel generation will be minimal.

For example the first big battery to be installed, the Hornsdale Power Reserve’s Tesla big battery, performed very well in its first year by providing very fast back up to 'trips' in power in SA and the eastern states helping to keep the lights on. SA has and will be adding more batteries and other storage to its grid.

Read more:
- South Australia’s stunning aim to become “net” 100 per cent renewables by 2030. RenewEconomy, June 17 2019.
- How the Tesla big battery became the “heartbeat” of Australia’s main grid. RenewEconomy, December 5 2018.

AGL plans 250MW pumped hydro plant in SA to replace gas

Old Kanmantoo mine planned for pumped hydro (Source: RenewEconomy)

“AGL Energy, the owner of the biggest gas generation fleet in South Australia, has announced plans to build a massive 250MW/2000MWh pumped hydro energy storage project in an old copper mine about 55km south-east of Adelaide.”

“The company said on Tuesday [April 16] that it has agreed to pay $31 million for the rights to develop the pumped hydro project at the old Kanmantoo mine from Hillgrove Resources, using the existing open mine pit, with a new upper pond to be built on nearby land.”

“South Australia is already sourcing more than half its energy needs from wind and solar, and this is expected to grow as it adds yet more projects – to more than 70 per cent by 2021 and close to 100 per cent as early as 2026/27.” As this transition occurs, gas fired power stations will be retired.

Read more: AGL plans 250MW pumped hydro plant in South Australia as replacement for gas. RenewEconomy, April 16, 2019.

Australia's chief scientist says we can be a world leader in energy storage.

Australia has the most MW of storage = navy bar graph (source RenewEconomy)

A new study led by chief scientist Alan Finkel has emphasized Australia’s role as a leader in the home battery storage sector, and says Australia can, and should, be a leader of energy storage of all types, including renewable hydrogen as an export opportunity.

The two most mature energy storage technologies in Australia are pumped hydro and lithium-ion batteries. There are other storage technologies being explored or adopted, such as renewable hydrogen, solar thermal, electrical thermal and flow batteries.

Battery technology is improving such that it can be used to provide back-up electricity if there is not enough power generation to meet demand. Batteries also play a crucial role in stabilizing the grid by helping to keep a constant frequency. Large-scale batteries and virtual power plants from home battery storage are starting to perform these roles.

One advantage of batteries is that once installed as small units they can be added to as needs and funds arise. Also, they can be installed close to where they are needed, reducing the transmission costs. In some cases, batteries can save investment costs by avoiding the need to upgrade power lines in cities and similarly support the large grid at its extremities without new lines.

Read more:
Finkel says Australia can, and should, be world leader in energy storage. RenewEconomy, July 6, 2018.
Taking charge: the energy storage opportunity for Australia. Office of the Chief Scientist - Occasional Paper, July 2018.
Also in this blog:
SA’s big Tesla battery goes full discharge (100MW) …... December 2017.
Australia’s biggest solar farm switches on …... (Including solar thermal storage). May 2018.
...Hydrogen as a storage of renewable energy for export. October 2017.
Australian virtual power plants to date.

Kidston renewable power plant: solar, wind, pumped hydro.

Kidston Solar and Pumped Hydro Project, (owned by Genex Power whose director is Simon Kidston), is being constructed at and near the abandoned Kidston Mine site and there is a plan to add wind power to the project. The location is 270km NW of Townsville, Queensland. The 250MW pumped storage hydro will be between two old mine pits that are at different elevations (pictured above and explained below).

Source: The Internet.

The construction of large scale solar, just to the west of the reservoirs, has begun with the completion of the 50MW project that commenced production of electricity in December 2017 and is already making considerable amounts of money. Construction of the second stage large scale solar project of 270MW and the wind farm will start later. The second stage solar farm will integrate with the pumped hydro plant to power the pumping.

Kidston Renewable Energy Hub solar + pumped hydro plan (source: Genex Power)

The 150MW wind farm will be located on a neighbouring escarpment some 350m above the surrounding topography, and about 40 turbines will stretch out for a distant of 21kms. Kidston says the wind would be stronger at night and compliment the output of the solar farm. Its combination of solar and wind power together with pumped hydro storage would be world-leading and reach the renewables “holy grail” of 24/7 dispatchable power.

Kidston would not be drawn on costs, but said the combined project would deliver reliable, dispatchable power at a significant discount to a new coal fired power station. This view is shared by Windlab, which says its own combination of wind, solar and battery storage, the Kennedy Energy Hub, will be significantly cheaper than coal.

Together, with the Kennedy Energy Hub just 80kms to the south - potentially a mega installation of 1200MW - it means that Queensland could be host of the world’s two leading renewables plus storage projects.

Read more:
Genex seeks "holy grail" of renewables - wind, solar, pumped hydro. RenewEconomy, April 5, 2018.
Renewable, reliable energy from an old, abandoned mine site? - that's gold. Australian Renewable Energy Agency, November 17, 2017.

A new solar reality for Australia and the Globe

Majura Solar farm, Canberra (photo Julie May)

Scientia Professor Martin Green of the University of New South Wales speaks for Ockham’s Razor about the falling costs of renewable energy, particularly solar power, and how this will affect our future.

It is now less expensive to install new renewable energy than it is to build new coal-fired power stations, so the installation of renewables will increase over time. On current projections, Australia could get most its electricity from renewables by 2050.

Globally, 40% of our CO2 emissions come from electricity generation but fortunately we can do something about this by adding renewable power. Other significant emitters are passenger cars (10%) and this too can be reduced if our electricity comes from renewable energy and we drive electric vehicles.

Cars have been developed with their own solar panels that can charge a car battery to do an average 25 km/day. That is close to the average distance a car travels daily. Toyota sees this development as a way to substantially reduce the CO2 emissions from hybrid cars.

To listen to the full audio go to: A new solar reality - Ockham’s Razor, ABC Radio National, February 18, 2018.

Renewable energy for steelworks in Australia

Whyalla Steelworks (Source ABC News)

UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty OneSteel Group is the new owner of the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia. He plans to build 1 gigawatt (1,000MW) of dispatchable renewables in and around Whyalla, where his steel plant is located. This would comprise huge investments in solar, battery storage, pumped hydro and demand management. The renewable energy porject will knock 40 percent off his electricity costs.

Gupta is also looking to repeat the dose - although with varying mixes and scale of renewables and storage - to power the company’s steel operations in Melbourne and Sydney. He said he wanted these bigger plants to eventually be powered 100 per cent by renewable energy.

At Whyalla, the plans are to build a 200MW solar farm by early 2019; a 100MW/100MWh battery storage facility and a 100MW of demand response at the Whyalla steel works and other facilities by the end of 2019; and a pumped hydro storage facility at a disused iron ore mine pit by 2020.

The work will be carried out through Zen Energy, the Australia renewable and battery storage company in which Gupta’s Liberty group bought a majority stake soon after the Whyalla purchase.

For further reading: Whyalla steel city goes green with 1GW of solar and storage. RenewEconomy, October 30, 2017.
Also related: Gupta plans EV plant in Australia, powered by solar and storage. RenewEconomy, January 22, 2018.
Postscripts:
- Gupta signs up solar farm to power Victoria’s steelworks. RenewEconomy, May 2, 2018.
- Gupta doubles down on green industrial plans for Whyalla, powered by cheap renewables. RenewEconomy, December 10, 2018.

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.