South Australia’s state government has launched an AUD50 million fund to accelerate investment in grid-scale energy storage, needed to address intermittency in the South Australian electricity system.
“This multi-million dollar fund is one of a range of measures the Liberal government is taking to make electricity more affordable and reliable,” said Minister for Energy and Mining, Dan van Holst Pellekaan (pictured).
“The fund is technology neutral”, he continued. “Eligible projects must benefit the state by addressing the challenges that have driven up electricity prices in South Australia. For example, projects could boost the reliability of our network during peak periods or increase the security of supply at the fringe of our grid.”
There will be two streams of funding, the first targeting behind-the-meter projects in the distribution network or in commercial/industrial facilities, the second targeting centralised bulk energy storage projects.
The state government has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) in order to coordinate the assessment of projects that may be eligible for joint funding with Arena’s Advancing Renewables Program.
The single round of applications shall close on 7 February 2019.