Big batteries overtake peaking gas generators on Australia’s main grid for first time

The march of change on Australia’s main grids grinds on, with the nation’s rapidly growing fleet of big batteries discharging more energy into the National Electricity Market in November than peaking gas generators.

According to Windlab’s David Osmond, it was the first month that this has happened on the main grid. And he noted that, according to the 2024 Integrated System Plan, it will only be a few years before batteries are the primary firmer of renewables, exceeding the output of all gas and hydro.

It should be no surprise, given the falling costs of battery storage and the fact that these installations are highly flexible and can play in numerous different markets and deliver even more services. The cost of gas generation, and gas turbines, on the other hand has soared in recent years.

According to research and forecasting company Macromonitor, battery storage construction has become a cornerstone of the green energy transition, rising from just $89 million in 2019/20 to $6.4 billion in 2024/25, and is forecast to remain near this level for the next three years.

The level of battery storage will grow dramatically in coming months, just through big projects that are working through their construction and commissioning processes.

This includes what will be the biggest battery on the main grid, the 700 MW and 2,800 MWh Eraring battery being built by Origin Energy at the site of the country’s biggest coal fired power generator, and the 300 MW, 650 MWh Mortlake battery at the site of the Victoria gas generator.

The 600 MW, 1,600 MWh Melbourne Renewable Energy Hub is poised for its official launch, and the 850 MW, 1680 MWh is also partially commissioned, and expects to complete the process within six months once it identifies and fixed the problems with its transformers.

A host of other big batteries – at Brendale, Ulinda Park, Templers and Terang – are just a few of those going through the final stages of their commissioning processes.

The few peaking gas plants that are being built are heavily subsidised, or paid for by governments, including Snowy Hydro’s Hunter gas generator, and the newly announced Brigalow gas peaker in Queensland, which is backed by the state utility CS Energy and underwritten to protect it from low wholesale prices.

Battery storage will eventually be overtaken by distribute storage, including household batteries and EVs (see graph above), with gas and existing hydro also dispatching more than the new Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro project, according to those ISP forecasts.

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