Ambitious battery energy storage planned for regional Aust

Solar energy developer ACEnergy has announced its plan to set up a portfolio of distribution-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) in regional Australia. The company is also calling for industry collaboration to introduce reforms that will expedite the rollout of renewable energy projects.

The initial 50 MW/100 MWh distribution battery portfolio is currently undergoing planning studies, with sites selected across Victoria and NSW. ACEnergy has assembled an expert team across the development value chain — from land acquisition to grid connection and operation and maintenance, and often holds the assets it develops for the long term. The company intends to retain ownership and operate the assets over the duration of their life cycle.

ACEnergy said it has picked locations where BESS can work in concert with local grid demand. By coordinating their operation according to the local network demand profile, the distributed BESS should increase network capacity, alleviating curtailment of distributed energy resources (DER), like rooftop solar systems, and benefiting local households with systems installed.

The company is keen for regulators to collaborate with industry to reform the current tariff structure, which would support further implementation of BESS to benefit regional communities and maximise existing renewable energy assets.

Distribution companies recently introduced trial tariffs for storage systems, incentivising them to operate as ‘solar sponges’ by charging during peak solar periods and discharging during evening peaks. However, these tariffs limit storage operations outside these specified times, discouraging charging during overnight off-peak periods for discharge within the morning peaks. This limitation reduces the ability of storage systems to access a second daily cycle and prevents BESS from playing a more active role in the grid by reducing the magnitude of morning peak demand periods, and in turn, lowering wholesale prices and pressure on network assets.

ACEnergy believes another opportunity for reform is the current connection process used by networks, which doesn’t fully recognise the capabilities of storage systems to operate in concert with available network capacity, thus relieving stress on network assets. The assessment criteria currently focus on battery charge demand occurring during times of network peak demand, which ACEnergy said was highly unlikely to happen in practice, as batteries will typically charge when demand is low but generation is high.

By revising the assessment criteria to consider the local network demand profile and the intended operating profile of the distribution BESS, network companies can unlock the benefits of storage and support the increasing adoption of rooftop generation and electrification with minimal investments, the company said.

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