Australian network operator Ergon Energy is to install 20x100kWh lithium-ion batteries across its grid in Queensland.
The power distributor aims to install the first energy storage systems at several locations within the next 12 months and the rest during the following year. The installed batteries will be charged by the grid during off-peak periods at night and discharged at peak periods in the daytime.
The energy storage solutions should reduce network costs for substations, poles and wires that have raised electricity prices. The supplier of the batteries is not yet disclosed.
“Using renewables, demand management and storage in those locations stacks up commercially for us and for the customer,” said Ian McLeod, chief executive officer at Ergon Energy and highlighted the challenges of running an effective network in regional Northern Australia, a sparsely populated area.
“Our target is to keep network prices at below CPI and all our modeling at this point in time says we will achieve that,” added McLeod.
Ergon stated that it is conducting a trial of solar PVs with on-grid batteries at scale. Pilots have been undertaken with residential energy storage. “If you put batteries in a home, it will reduce infrastructure costs and the customers will be paying half the cost that they charge on off peak,” claimed McLeod.
Ergon covers 1.7m square kilometres and 160,000km of power lines, serving 715,000 customers.
