New two-hour battery joins bid to “bank” rooftop solar and allow more installs

The central highlands town of Emerald, in Queensland, is the next in line to have a 2MW/4MWh battery installed on its grid to help soak up excess rooftop solar in the middle of the day for use when it’s most needed in the evening peaks.

The new two-hour battery is one of 12 being rolled out across regional Queensland communities, as more and more households install solar on their rooftops.

Emerald, which is around 270km west of Rockhampton and with a population of around 15,000, currently counts nearly 2,000 solar systems on homes and small businesses in the town.

The installation of grid-connect community-scale batteries helps to make the best use of rooftop solar power in the place that it is generated, and also ensures that more homes can install solar in congested parts of the grid.

“This new battery at Emerald will ensure that the energy generated locally stays locally, instead of putting pressure on upstream infrastructure,” says Energy Queensland general manager for energy storage, Glenn Dahlenburg.

“As we connect more renewables for our customers, battery storage will give us greater flexibility to connect rooftop solar, balance supply and demand, and keep voltages in check, which is vital for the security of the network that powers Queensland.

“With these battery projects we’re aiming for a win-win-win scenario that achieves the energy trifecta for communities throughout the state – affordability, security and sustainability.”

Rooftop solar is already hugely popular among homeowners in the Sunshine State, but with the price of electricity set to increase again from July, many more households can be expected to take the plunge.

Rooftop solar will look particularly attractive in regional Queensland, too, after the state pricing regulator last week announced plans to boost the solar feed-in tariff on the Ergon network by nearly 40 per cent.

“As Queensland progresses toward its renewable energy target, batteries, firming and other storage options will become increasingly important,” said state energy minister Mick de Brenni.

“Local network-connected batteries will play a key role in supporting households and businesses to install more rooftop solar, putting more downward pressure on bills and easing the cost of living.”

Queensland’s minister for rural communities Mark Furner says the great value of the new battery project is that it will support additional solar energy in the local area over the coming decade.

“This is a game changer for the local community’s energy security, affordability and sustainability, and it supports good local jobs in our publicly owned energy companies.

“With one in three Queensland homes using solar, the nation’s biggest power station is Queensland’s rooftop solar and now Emerald can play a leading role in our growth to 70% renewables by 2032,” Furner said.

The latest battery rollout by Energy Queensland follows installations last year of 4MW/8MWh batteries in Tanby, Hervey Bay, Bundaberg, Townsville, Yeppoon and Toowoomba in a trial announced last March.

At the time, de Brenni said Energy Queensland would tap the “proven delivery model” it had established through the successful installation of a 4MW/8MWh Tesla battery at Bohle Plains in Townsville. And if the trial was deemed a success, then it would consider installing battery storage systems network-wide, right across the state.

“In the medium term, this technology means we can ‘bank’ the excess renewable energy generated allowing a continued growth in rooftop solar on the way to achieving Queensland’s renewable energy target,” de Brenni said.