MPower gets green light to connect solar battery projects, cash in on negative pricing

Renewable microgrid specialist MPower will forge ahead with plans to develop two solar and battery projects in South Australia, after securing approval to connect to the state’s grid.

MPower says the two hybrid projects, combining 5MW of solar with 5MW/10MWh battery energy storage, can proceed to “shovel ready” status, after receiving formal offers to connect from SA Power Networks.

“The projects have been well progressed through the course of 2022 and are now nearing shovel-ready status, which is expected in the coming months,” the company said in a statement late last week.

The company says the “mission critical” step in the development process paves the way for the two projects to get to work harnessing valuable negative pricing opportunities in the South Australia market.

Record minimum demand and negative pricing events

With its world-leading uptake of renewables, South Australia last November became the first gigawatt-scale grid in the world to reach zero demand when the combined output of rooftop solar and other non-scheduled generators exceeded all local customer load requirements.

The increasing occurrence of negative energy prices that often accompany such renewable-powered plateaus in demand have been great for batteries in the state.

As Marija Petkovic has noted, batteries in South Australia were paid to charge throughout September and October 2021, due to a record stretch of negative price intervals, where wholesale electricity prices were negative almost 40% of the time.

Battery plans are go

MPower flagged plans  in in December of 2021 to install batteries across its pipeline of up to 20 small (<5MW) solar projects around Australia after a grid connected battery trial with Endeavour Energy was deemed a success.

The trial with a 1.5MWh “grid-forming” battery energy storage system designed for the NSW network in 2018 passed its final acceptance test, after two summer periods of “stringent field-testing,” MPower said.

MPower said at the time that it used a “sophisticated and proprietary” control in the Endeavour Energy trial to enable the grid-connected BESS to operate in three distinct modes, and transition between them seamlessly.

In one mode, the battery supports the grid at times of peak-demand – known as peak-shaving. In another, it can switch to an islanded state when the main grid is down, and continue to provide power to the local network.

Finally, the battery can provide black start services, enabling the local network to recover from a complete blackout.

Cashing in on pricing volatility

MPower says the connection offered by SAPN will allow the batteries at both sites to charge up by importing energy from the grid – a key capability that allows them to take advantage of negative pricing opportunities.

“From a regulatory perspective [approval to connect] marks a crucial milestone for our South Australian operations and aligns with the group’s strategic objective to … generate profits during periods of pricing volatility and negative energy pricing in the local energy market,” said MPower CEO Nathan Wise.

“MPower is now well positioned to pursue funding opportunities for the construction of its solar/battery energy projects in SA, and we look forward to converting this opportunity into a long-term revenue driver for the business.”