Moving into unchartered territory

From Snowy Hydro 2.0 to the Queensland government’s move to bring Stanwell’s E gas-fired power station out of hibernation and the closure of Hazelwood coal-fired plant in Victoria, the nation is at odds about how to responsibly cater to the ever-growing energy needs of our own population, as well as the world’s.

While we won’t be ditching traditional power sources any time soon, investment into next-generation energy sources has never been higher, with a recent report from Mercom Capital Group finding that venture capital funding had reached $422 million (for 10 deals) in the battery storage sector in the second quarter of 2017 alone.

Smart grid and energy-efficient technologies will have to cater to a global surge in battery demand over the next few years — encompassing everything from large-scale generation farms to electric cars and home solar storage, as part of a wider trend in the recovery of cleaner energy investment.

Consumer expectations are changing just as swiftly — customers are no longer content with the ‘standard’ option but are more interested in individualised alternatives, fully integrated services and performance, and enhanced functionality. All of this, of course, with high energy efficiency.

The UK government recently announced that the first part of its £246 million investment into battery technology and storage had begun, with Nissan announcing the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology to allow vehicles to be fully integrated into the electricity grid, improving grid capability to handle renewable power and giving owners/business with large EV fleets the opportunity to create mobile energy hubs. Nissan also announced plans for its batteries, once they’ve been used in cars, to become stationary energy storage units that can be filled with renewable sources.

In Massachusetts, the Energy and Environmental Affairs department announced a 200 MWh energy storage target to be achieved by 1 January 2020 — building on a $10 million commitment to analyse opportunities to support its storage companies and develop policy to encourage energy storage deployment.

Closer to home, a joint venture between two high-profile Brisbane energy sector players was awarded a $2 million grant towards their $12 million endeavour with a research team from The University of Queensland and University of New South Wales, which is aiming to bring screen-printed batteries to market within three years.

Printed Energy, backed by Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery, is developing ultrathin and flexible batteries, printed in a roll-to-toll process similar to printing a newspaper. The batteries can be adapted to almost any shape and have the potential to power everything from disposable medical devices, smart cards and wearable electronics to large-scale power storage.

Printed Energy’s grant arrived on the back of South Australia’s announcement of a partnership with Tesla to build the world’s largest lithium-ion battery, after widespread load shedding and blackout issues led the government to prepare a $550 million energy plan to entice the private sector.

An array of lithium-ion batteries will be connected to the Hornsdale Wind Farm (currently under construction), with the capacity to store 129 MWh of energy and be capable of an output of 100 MW of power at a time.

French company Neoen is also involved in the deal, and says the battery — on track to be delivered by the time summer rolls around — would be used to primarily provide stability for the power grid, which has traditionally been the domain of coal, gas and hydro, rather than wind or solar.

Battery, smart grid and energy-efficient technologies will undoubtedly lead the electrical industry into unchartered territory over the coming years, bringing with them entirely new possibilities for businesses as the practical, consumer-level applications of these, and so many more advances in the field, begin to take shape.