Australia is poised for a transformation of its electricity system – but not in the ways you’ve heard before.
In recent months, transmission companies around the world have been increasingly considering energy storage as the means to supplement a fundamental part of our electric power infrastructure: the poles and wires that carry high-voltage current from power plant to end-users.
Battery-based energy storage offers a solution for adding needed capacity – “virtual transmission” – on Australia’s transmission corridors, increasing system reliability and the NEM’s ability to move power between states, on far faster timelines and at less cost than traditional infrastructure.
Congestion on Australia’s transmission network is not an issue on most people’s minds but has significant impacts across the economy. Network congestion continues to make headlines in Sydney and Melbourne during the heat of summer, when temperatures often hit 50 degrees C.
Transmission lines are running at full capacity but still are not able to serve all the load during the hottest day.
A single transmission line outage across the state boundary can create power price surges of $14,000/MWh or brownouts – as happened in New South Wales during August 2018, when the QLD-NSW interconnector tripped due to a lightning strike.
While several initiatives being pursued at the state and national levels aim to increase critical transmission capacity and reduce network congestion, energy storage can play – and should be considered – in helping address this specific issue.
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