Toshiba eyes more opportunities in Australia after landing large-scale battery order

Japan electronics giant Toshiba Corp says it is eyeing more opportunities for large-scale battery storage after landing a contract to provide storage for the Coober Pedy renewable hybrid project in South Australia.

Toshiba will install a 1MW, 0.5MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) for the Coober pedy project, which aims to cut diesel use by 70 per cent in the remote, off-grid outback town, famous for its opals.

The battery storage unit will combine with 4MW of wind generation and 1MW of solar PV, along with the 3.7MW diesel units that currently exist.

Toshiba says its battery storage system will maintain power system frequency stability when there is no diesel running, and may also provide electrical energy storage or load on demand when diesel generators are in “droop” mode.

The system may also be used to allow possible block shifting of excess renewable energy generation.

“Islanded grids have very low inertia compared to traditional grids and they can become unbalanced in timeframes of tens of milliseconds,” Toshiba said in a statement.

“The BESS will provide rapidly dispatch-able generation or load to balance the grid.”

Toshiba says its system comes in a container and can therefore be easily moved or redeployed.

“The vast tracts of Australia’s interior are home to many towns and communities that are not connected to the grid, and that rely on third parties to deliver fuel—a service that can be interrupted by bad weather and accidents,” it says.

“Off-grid systems offer these isolated communities the potential to develop a self-sufficient power supply.”

Toshiba said it would use the Coober Pedy order to promote its system and other equipment, saying it saw the opportunity for “widespread” use of large scale storage in “renewable energy situations” in Australia.