The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has announced a $100 million competitive funding round for grid scale batteries equipped with advanced inverters.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (Arena’s) large scale battery storage funding round will provide up to $100 million funding for new battery energy storage projects of at least 70 MW or larger operating in the national electricity market or Western Australia’s wholesale electricity market.
Existing grid scale battery operators may apply for funding to retrofit advanced inverter capability.
It doesn’t what type of battery technology is used, providing the project uses advanced inverters.
The plan is to support at least three projects, as the maximum grant is $35 million per project.
“Grid scale batteries and other types of energy storage technology will be vital to support our future electricity system powered by renewables,” said Arena CEO Darren Miller.
“This funding round will demonstrate the role of advanced inverters in grid scale batteries to provide system stability, facilitating a more efficient transition and accelerate the uptake of renewable generation.
“We’ve seen promising signs that advanced inverters can support system stability, but it’s clear public sector investment is still needed to prove the technology at scale. We’re confident that ARENA funding will help drive the uptake of this technology and provide valuable lessons that will benefit the industry as a whole.”
Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said “Large-scale battery storage, along with gas and pumped hydro, will be an important part of Australia’s energy infrastructure mix as more and more renewables come into the grid.”
Expressions of interest will open in February 2022 and close on 31 March 2022. Selected projects will be invited to submit a full application later in the year.
Source: itwire
